


Heathers: Aria of Sorrow

by BrokenDreams



Category: Heathers (1988), Heathers: The Musical - Murphy & O'Keefe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Castlevania - Freeform, Castlevania AU, Drama, F/F, Original Character(s), Romance, monster au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-18
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2019-05-08 17:48:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 42,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14699244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrokenDreams/pseuds/BrokenDreams
Summary: Veronica Sawyer, a girl who lives in a world filled with monsters. Humans, former masters of the planet, are now hunted. When Veronica discovers a dark secret about who she truly is, she must come to terms with the destiny that awaits her. And that is to kill the king of vampires, Count Dracula.





	1. Dance of Illusions

**Author's Note:**

> Reposting this old fic I wrote. I deleted my old account. This was originally under the title It's Terror Time Again. I'll be posting chapters intermittently. Enjoy.

Lightning struck the ground as the winds and rains blew the tree branches asunder. A lone man, holding a swaddled baby girl, ran through the forest, as the rain continued to worsen. No person in their right mind would be out in this hellish weather, except maybe sea nymphs or sirens. They seemed to take pleasure in horrific storms. The man could hear their songs through the loud winds that filled his ears.

A small house, with the lights in the home lit up, sat alone in the suburbs. Weakly, the man arrived at the home and began to rapidly knock at the door with his free hand. He could hear movements from inside the house, before the door opened. This was the home of trusted comrades, the Sawyers. They were a kind couple, both were Muses.

“Professor? What are you doing here are this late of an hour?” Mr. Sawyer asked, as the titular professor stumbled into the house. His body was soaking wet, and the sounds of the rain hitting the door seemed louder than ever.

“Sawyer… I know this may seem sudden, but I must ask you a favor.”

“A favor? Whatever could it…” Mrs. Sawyer began to ask, before her eyes looked down at the baby. “Oh no… You can’t mean that?”

“I’m sorry but she has nowhere else to go. Besides myself this little one is one of the only humans left in this state. As you know, the rest have either been hunted down or have escaped to places where humans have rights.” The professor stuck out his hands, showing a small sleeping baby girl. Mr. Sawyer was quite surprised she was able to sleep through rain and rampant running.

“With us… I don’t know if we could do that.” Mrs. Sawyer replied, looking down at the little child. She made small breathing noises as her arms moved delicately. The professor looked to Mr. Sawyer.

“You cannot have children of your own. And you owe your lives to my clan. I ask of you to raise this child as a Muse. Besides their scents, Muses and humans are outwardly identical.” He looked sadly down at the small baby, who made a yawning noise. The two other adults looked at each other for a moment, before staring at the small awakened baby. Mrs. Sawyer took the swaddled child, who took hold of one of Mrs. Sawyer’s fingers.

“Well, she is rather cute. And I’ve always wanted a child.” Mrs. Sawyer smiled down to the little baby. “Maybe this wouldn’t be the worst thing.”

“What about documents? If she needs to be checked or if she’s sick, doctors will know she’s a human.” Mr. Sawyer said, a small bit of worry in his tone. The professor opened up his coat pocket and removed a laminated manila envelope and handed it over to his friend.

“Everything you’d need for her. Including a reference for a human friendly doctor at Sherwood Central. He owes my clan quite a lot, including his life, and is a close friend of mine. He is able to be trusted.” The professor began explaining, as Mr. Sawyer removed several documents from the envelope. There was a fully filled out birth certificate, including date of birth, race, and last name. However, her given name was left blank.

“Professor, I believe you’ve left this part blank. What’s her name?” Mr. Sawyer asked, showing the document to him.

“You’re her parents now. I was nothing more than a temporary caretaker. A parent chooses the name of their child. As for the name… Well you’re Muses, you can easily replicate that signature.” The professor ended his sentence just as lightning struck outside. “I’m afraid this is where we must part ways… This is all sudden, I know it is but she is safer here than she is with me.”

“We’ll take care of her for you, you can count on us.” Mrs. Sawyer said, as the professor simply nodded and walked toward the door. He looked back for a moment at the small child, before leaving the house without saying another word.

The two now-parents looked down at their human child, who was beginning to stir a bit. Maybe they had taken on such a big responsibility, but when it came to humans they knew that the adults needed to come and flee when performing business.

“Well what do we name her, love?” Mr. Sawyer asked, taking his wife, and looking down at the small child who seemed more curious about the two Muses. His wife smiled and kissed the baby’s forehead.

“How about Veronica? I quite like the sound of that. What do you think, Veronica?” Mrs. Sawyer asked the baby, who made a small purring noise and gripped her new mother’s hand. The two parents, for a moment, had their own worries melt away as they looked at their beaming child. They would make sure she lived a good life.

* * *

Heather Chandler was not one to be trifled with. The girl was quite annoyed as she applied make-up alongside her friend, Heather McNamara, in the girl’s bathroom. Putting on make-up was hard when you were a vampire, but luckily the two girls often directed each other in apply the make-up. The sound of retching could be heard coming from one of the stalls. Chandler, dressed completely in red sighed, as she turned to the stall.

“Grow up, Heather. Bulimia is so yesterday.” Chandler said, walking over to the stall door and knocking hard on it. Sometimes Chandler wondered why she would even let a werewolf into her pack, considering she and McNamara were vampires. Probably because she had a great nose, and could identify any lesser race that came to talk to them.

Woozily, Heather Duke emerged from the toilet stall. She wiped her mouth a bit with her green sleeve, showing off her sharpened wolf-like teeth for a moment.

“Heather, I think I need a mint. My breath smells terrible.” Duke said, approaching McNamara, who was dressed mostly in yellow. The blonde vampire dug around in her purse and removed a mint, to which Duke quickly put in her mouth. McNamara sighed a bit as she slung her purse back to normal.

“What you need, Heather, is to see a doctor.” McNamara said, her voice filled with concern. Despite being a pureblooded vampire, McNamara tended to be the kindest of the Heathers. She deeply cared for both Duke and Chandler, whom she had been friends with since their childhoods.

“I hate my doctor. He smells like fucking burning wood.” Duke said, cleaning her face a bit in the sink. “Why can’t fucking hellhounds smell decent? It like he purposely cleans himself in a fire pit.” Just the thought of the smell made her gag, and she quickly returned to the stall causing Chandler to sigh and return to her make-up. Or rather, she would have if the door had not opened at that exact moment. It was none other than their most hated teacher, Ms. Fleming. A nymph hippie with no tolerance for the three most popular girls in school.

“Ah, Heather and Heather.” Ms. Fleming said, her voice filled with venom. That’s when Duke vomited again into the toilet. “And Heather. Perhaps you didn’t hear the bell over all that vomiting, but you should be in class now.” Chandler wanted to roll her eyes. Despite being a higher tier than her teacher, tiers didn’t matter when you were going against one. It was their jobs to instruct the future melting pot of the country and blah, blah, blah.

“Heather wasn’t feeling well, so we were helping her.” Chandler lied, placing one of her hands on her hip. She didn’t seem to care too much about her teacher. She wished she could just turn around, back to McNamara, for the other blonde to return to fixing Chandler’s hair and bow.

“Not without a hall pass you’re not.” Ms. Fleming said, her brow furrowing her brow a bit. “That is a week’s worth of detention.”

Chandler wanted to yell at the teacher. A week worth of detention? She didn’t have precious time to waste just because she would rather be working on her appearance rather than sit in some boring lecture. Of course, there would be no escape from this. Ms. Fleming seemingly finally captured her most soured students. For the first time, in quite some time, Chandler was just not going to bother arguing.

“Actually, Ms. Fleming, all four of us are out on a hall pass. Yearbook committee.” A voice said, startling all of them. A somewhat short girl wearing ugly clothes was standing there. Chandler quickly scanned the girl with her eyes. Her hair was quite frazzled and out of place, as if she was consistently just getting out of bed. The girl handed a slip to Ms. Fleming, who proceeded to look at it. The teacher breathed a sigh of defeat, and handed the slip back to the girl.

“I see you’re all listed. Just get where you’re going.” Ms. Fleming took her leave, angrily stomping out of the bathroom. Chandler, incredibly impressed, looked to the girl for a moment. She stepped forward and took the slip out of the girl’s hand and read it over.

“This is an excellent forgery? Just who are you?” Chandler asked, slipping the piece of paper back into the girl’s hands.

“Veronica Sawyer. I crave a boon.” Veronica said quite boldly, causing Chandler to raise one of her eyebrows.

“What kind of boon?” Chandler asked, leaning forward at her. She smelled Veronica, but she just had the scent of your average everyday not-vampire. Duke came out of her toilet stall, and looked at Veronica.

“You know nothing much, I just want to hang around you like once or twice. Just to get people off my back and leave me alone to my books.” Veronica said, pocketing the slip. “I also do a bunch of other stuff like notes, papers, homework, etc. Anything you can think of, I can forge. Chandler thought for a moment, before looking to Duke and pointing to Veronica. Duke sighed and walked over to her and smelled her, taking in Veronica’s scent.

“She’s a Muse, Heather.”

“Now what’s this I hear, a Muse? Now that is lucky.” Chandler said, walking over to Veronica, and lightly grabbing her chin. Veronica made a note of how a vampire’s ‘light’ grab felt like someone forcibly grabbing her hard. She internally shuddered at the unchecked strength of a vampire like Heather Chandler. “This is the first time I’ve seen a Muse myself. You’re a rarity you know? Most of your kind live out west in the art industry, but I guess it’s not too weird you’d be situated here.”

Chandler was looking deep into Veronica’s eyes. To the vampire girl they seemed quite bold and beautiful. Veronica blushed, red delicious blood rushing to her cheeks. Now this is what she liked to see. Muses are one of the species most related to humans, so they must have had a high blood content.

“For a greasy little nobody, though, you have fine bone structure. Your hair could use a bit of work, but I must say, for someone who doesn’t seem to do their hair I think it works well on you.” Chandler began saying, stroking Veronica’s hair a bit. The scarlet red vampire began to smile, her pointed teeth showing a bit. “But you could make a great asset to our group. Nothing makes a group better than having an artsy member.”

Then, quite suddenly, Chandler spun Veronica around and held her close into her chest. Chandler began to pant a little, as Duke sighed and the incredibly pale McNamara put her hands over Duke’s eyes.

“Hey! What are you doing, Heather?!” Duke yelled, trying to pry McNamara’s hands away.

“I’m sorry Heather, but Heather is ummm I think she’s gonna feed. And you know how we don’t let anyone else watch.” McNamara said, petting Duke to calm her down.

“If you wanna be with us though, Veronica Sawyer…” Chandler licked her lips, as she could feel the shudder and shaking of the Muse she held. “I just wanna take a bite from you, okay?”

“A-a bite?” Veronica didn’t expect this. She just expected to maybe hang around them for a day or two, not be inducted into their group. The nervous girl closed her eyes as she felt two stings in her neck.

Chandler began to suck the blood from Veronica’s arteries. It tasted absolutely fantastic. It made the blood of any cattle taste like the shit they put out. This was even better than the aged blood of the Minotaurs that her family had. She wanted to just drink Veronica until she was dry. But she knew that was a bad idea. Soon, she stopped and turned the somewhat dazed Veronica around.

“You are definitely my new favorite person, Ronnie.” Chandler said, licking some of the blood off of her lips and staring seductively down at Veronica. The latter girl just gulped.


	2. Metamorphosis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A young Chandler witnesses a horrifying act.

The chilly wind blew through the mansion-like castle’s courtyard. The sole light came from the moon, which reflected into the small artificial pond that was dug into the yard.

“Morrison, you don’t have to do this! Please, you can take me but leave my daughter and wife alone!” The sound of Count Chandler’s voice rung aloud through the windy night. A young blonde girl stood behind her mother, who in turn was making sure her daughter didn’t see it.

Before them stood a hunter. Hunters were humans specially trained to eliminate high ranking monsters as part of a claim to retake their land. Most saw the hunters as nothing more than terroristic humans who had nothing but hatred in their hearts for their oppressors.

“It’s nothing personal, Chandler. I’m just doing my assignment, and that includes eliminating the vampire who struck down an entire village of innocent humans.” Morrison replied, her voice filled with vigorous venom. In her arms, she held the only weapon that could fight against vampires and keep them on the opposite side of a fight. It was a steel crossbow with a sharpened wooden stake loaded in it. “Your wife and child should be fine, since they had no part in that event.”

“D-Daddy what does that mean lady mean?” The small Heather Chandler asked her father. His face only had one of guilt. He stepped forward with a grimace on his face.

“You wouldn’t kill a father in front of their young child, would you?” The Count asked, moving forward a little. He thought maybe, just maybe, he could get close enough to turn the tables. But Morrison was too smart for the Count’s own good. She took aim at his chest, lining up the sharpened state to the heart.

“Would you? Oh wait, you already know the answer don’t you Count?” Morrison closed one of her eyes and lined up the shot a bit more. “This is for the members of the Morrison Clan that you and your gang so brutally murdered!”

There was no more speaking, the sound of silence cut through the air. Until the sound of the stake being released lightened up the air. Count Chandler didn’t even have a moment to look at his wife and daughter as he was quickly impaled with the stake, causing him to turn grey and collapse into dust. The hunter raised her weapon and reloaded it, staring at the now-widow and child.

“The sun should be rising soon, Madam Chandler.” Morrison said, turning around. “Take your daughter and get inside.” The human woman walked off into the darkness, while the small childish Heather clung to her mother’s side. She cried a bit, as her mother held her and repeated that it would be okay.

Morrison stopped for a moment once she was far enough away, and removed the letter of request she had received for the vampire’s assassination.

“Well love… Your abusive husband is no more.” Morrison thought to herself, looking down to the signature of the Count’s wife and stamped with their official seal. And below that was the lipstick marked lips. She folded it back up and returned it to her pocket, before looking back and blowing a kiss off to the mansion. “Sleep well, my love.”

* * *

Veronica could have slept through such a boring lecture. So instead, she sat in her desk writing and practicing her forgeries. Slowly, but surely, she was being inducted into the Heathers pack. Every day at lunch, Veronica and Duke would eat their normal lunches, before heading to the locked bathroom. Her new blue clothes, and somewhat less frazzled hair really increased the looks she got in the hallway. Well, her attempts to be less noticed completely backfired, but at the very least she was becoming closer friends with the Heathers. It had been over a month since that fateful day.

The bell rang, signifying the end of the period, and Veronica rose up from her desk. The fake Muse girl packed her things away, and she prepared to meet with the Heathers, only to be stopped by her old friend, Martha. The two girls had been friends since childhood, and Martha was usually a target for bullying. It was sad to see her get bullied though, but most people tended to laugh at her because she was a Harpy, and Harpies don’t tend to look the most beautiful if they lack mixed breeding in their genes.

“Wow Veronica, you’ve really been looking good these days.” Martha said, as the two girls began heading out of the classroom. Martha was a bit overweight, and she had to keep her wings retracted at school like all races that have wings.

“Thanks, Martha. It’s been really odd and stressful that all this stuff kinda happened. Sorry I haven’t been around much, but the girls do take their time with me. I guess it’s for the greater good.” Veronica sighed a little bit, thinking to how much time she spent away.

“I understand, Veronica. I bet being super popular now takes up a lot of your time.” Martha said, sounding completely understanding. The poor girl really deserved better, at least Veronica thought so.

Veronica could only nod in response, since that was definitely the case. The Heathers occupied nearly all of her time, between feedings, being popular in general, helping Chandler with her homework, and applying anti-sun tonic to Chandler and McNamara it wasn’t too surprising that Veronica didn’t have much time for Martha nowadays.

There wasn’t much else to say, since Duke arrived. She looked bothered as she walked up to the two. The werewolf looked tired and she rubbed her eyes a bit as she took hold of Veronica’s hand.

“Come on, it’s lunch time Ronnie. Say goodbye to Harpy Dumptruck.” Duke said, quite quickly and non-caringly. The green shirted girl grasped Veronica’s hand tightly as they headed to their usual spot. Veronica waved a bit to the now lone Martha, before turning her attention back to the girl.

Veronica thought Duke looked quite cute, in all honesty. She had that wolf like look that made her seem incredibly cuddly. Duke’s face was, for all intents and purpose, beautiful. Her long eyelashes and thin eyebrows made her eye region look very pleasing to Veronica’s sense of sight, while her soft cheeks and lips… They all just drove Veronica crazy. Even though the girl could be quite angry, dry, sarcastic, and bitchy Veronica couldn’t find herself ever being mad at Duke.

“So, where’s Heather and Heather?” Veronica asked her companion, as she and Duke arrived in the lunch room. Despite her bulimia, Duke tended to get herself as much protein as possible. Werewolves needed a proper amount of protein in their daily diet to continue operating, since during the full moon period they used up an incredible amount of protein during their transformations.

“We’re eating alone today. Heather had to take Heather to the nurse’s office because she decided it’d be a clever idea to feed on some incredibly old wine from a calf during class.” Duke said, rolling her eyes a bit as she finished loading her plate with cooked meat. Veronica grabbed some fruits and a small sandwich, the typical Muse diet.

“Oh, that sounds like… a completely terrible idea. Why the hell would she think drinking calf blood that old?” Veronica said, exasperated a bit as the two sat down at their table to eat.

“She probably thought it was an old bottle of her so precious aged blood or thought that aged animal blood was the same as aged monster blood, but now she’s just coughing up little bursts of the stuff.” Duke stifled a laugh. The werewolf seemed to sometimes get a kick out of watching Chandler

“Well hopefully she’s alright. I heard when vampires drink expired blood, they just have to keep coughing it up until they’ve regurgitated it all.”

“Trust me, it’s true. One time Heather did it, she spent three hours hacking all of it up.” Duke said, beginning to dig into her food. Her eyes darted all around, and she growled as she saw Kurt and Ram approach. They were about to sit down, but Duke barked at the two and they left without a word.

“Wow, you really hate those two trolls, don’t you?”

“Don’t even get me started on those two idiots. They might be the dumbest most sex driven dumbasses in the entire school.” Duke began ranting, chewing her food rather quickly with each bite tearing the meat apart in her mouth. “Even when I’m in heat, I don’t act like those fucking idiots do. Why ‘Miss Heather Chandler’ keeps them around is a mystery to me.” Duke put air quotes around Chandler’s name and sounded incredibly annoyed. Veronica couldn’t help but blush a little at hearing about Duke’s heat.

“Yeah, they really aren’t the brightest bulbs in the barrel, are they?” Veronica responded, laughing to herself a bit. Duke could only nod to her in agreement.

“Exactly what I fucking mean, Ronnie. Like I’ve known a lot of guys in my day, but these two really ramp up the idiocy. One time they tried to get with my dearest McNamara, and they weren’t taking no for an answer. No means no, but they didn’t get the message.” Duke’s voice sounded bother annoyed and angry. It was clear she definitely hated Kurt and Ram. The two trolls were the most popular people in school besides the Heathers. They were star athletes, and they weren’t horribly ugly for trolls.

“What ended up happening, Heather?” Veronica asked, taking a bite of her fruit. She looked over to Duke, who looked down a bit as she gritted her sharpened teeth.

“Heather and I beat the shit out of them. It was the only time she did something like that to the most popular guys in school. They’re basically one tier lower than us, so they fuck with one of us directly and she’ll kick their asses right up to the moon.” Duke said, leaning back a bit before pointing up at the ceiling.

“Well good to know you put them in their place, Heather. You got a good sense of justice for you friends, and I think that makes you awesome.” Veronica said, praising the other girl. Duke smiled a bit, and an incredibly small blush appeared on her cheeks.

“Yeah, shit was golden. Nothing better than getting to physically exercise your fists on the face of a troll.” Duke clenched her fist mockingly and laughed a bit, finishing up her lunch. “I think my justice is pretty solid. Fuck up anyone who tries to fuck with my pack.” She cracked her knuckles a bit, and picked a bit at some of Veronica’s fruits.

Veronica smiled back to the werewolf girl and finished up what she had left, allowing Duke to take a bit of fruit for herself. Duke was partial to apples, which apparently had been her favorite as a child. The two girls got up and tossed their empty plates, before heading down the hallway to the bathroom, hand-in-hand. The blue shirted girl was never quite sure why Duke held her hand when they were alone, but it never bothered her. She thought it just added to Duke’s charm.

Like always, no one dared enter this specific bathroom during the hour-long lunch period. For the next 40 minutes, the bathroom belonged only to the Heathers. Of course, Chandler and McNamara were nowhere to be seen. Veronica assumed Chandler was still coughing up the indigestible blood.

“Well looks like we’re alone, Ronnie.” Duke said, wandering over to the bathroom door and locking it. Veronica was a bit surprised.

“You know, people don’t come in here anyways. Why are you locking the door?” Veronica said, quite innocently enough as Duke gave her a smile and began to approach.

“Well you know… I thought it was unfair that every time we come here they just feed on you and that’s it.” Duke said, before launching off of her feet and tackling Veronica into the ground. The poor girl hit the ground while Duke was panting a bit on top of her. “You know, you’re really pretty you know that? You’re way too good for Heather and Heather.”

Veronica was taken aback as Duke began to nuzzle her face against Veronica’s. She couldn’t tell, but her face was on fire.

“Uh uh haha you’re too kind.” Veronica stuttered a bit, as the nuzzling continued. Her face was continuing to get more and more red. In all reality, she probably looked like the exact color of blood at this point.

“No, I’m being completely fucking serious.” Duke said, repositioning the two so that Veronica was sitting down and Duke was laying on her lap and cuddling into her. “Around now is the time when werewolves find a mate. Usually we do it with our own kind, but you… I want you, Veronica. That scent of yours smells so good. Better than any other I’ve smelled. You…”

“H-Heather, you’re just in heat. You don’t really mean all this!” Veronica said, laughing quite nervously. But she didn’t really have any say in the matter. The panting Duke seemed to have made up her mind about it all.

“Oh, but I do. Ever since I smelled you that first day, I knew you were meant to be mine!” Duke got up on Veronica’s lap and stole Veronica’s first kiss from her with no one to stop them. “Heather and Heather think they’re so much higher up than me. Just because I’m a werewolf and not some snobby vampire. But you… You treat me like an equal and with kindness. I don’t get that much!” She began nuzzling against the heavily blushing Veronica’s face.

Veronica was at a loss for words, in all honesty. This was a first for her, and the amount of affection that Duke was showing her was amazing. There was a certain something in Duke, at the moment, that just made her extremely attractive. Raising her hand, Veronica began scratching behind Duke’s ear, causing the girl to groan in pleasure.

“Oh yeah, that’s the good stuff.” Duke said, pressing up closer to the other girl. She was using her hands to play with Veronica’s hair, while rubbing her face against Veronica’s beet red cheeks. This was the reason why the door was locked. There was no way Duke was going to let the others see this happen. Chandler had made it explicitly clear that Veronica was her personal blood bank, and that Duke had to keep her hands off.

“Hey… I don’t think this is the worst I guess.” Veronica said a bit, looking into Duke’s bright wolf like eyes. They really did look mesmerizing, even more so than the eyes of a vampire, which are biologically built to mesmerize human prey. Duke smiled, showing off her beautifully sharp teeth, before leaning in for another kiss. This was one that Veronica accepted a bit more. She wasn’t used to having romantic feelings, but they just seemed to pop out suddenly. Maybe she could try this… She never had such a relationship before because of her popularity status.

The two girls held their kiss and continued to cuddle each other until Duke’s watch beeped several times. Only five minutes left until the bell rang. She frowned a bit and rose to her feet, grabbing Veronica’s hands to help her up.

“Well we better head out so Heather and Heather don’t get the wrong idea. We gotta keep this secret for a while, okay?” Duke asked, and Veronica, who was still tomato red, nodded in response. Duke let out a happy toothy grin and nuzzled her neck slightly. “I wanna take you home to the den tonight.”

“Your den? Tonight? That seems a bit sudden, Heather.” Veronica replied, looking over to the other girl. She could only let out another smile.

“It’s customary to introduce your mate to your parents and pack when you get one.” Duke smiled and grabbed Veronica’s hands and held them to her cheek. “Oh yes. I’m sure you’ll love them. And they’ll love you. Just like I do.”

Veronica smiled and nodded. She wasn’t sure what was happening, since it all happened so quickly, but that’s how it worked when she met the Heathers. Was she in love? She wasn’t sure yet, but she knew she felt something more than friendship for the werewolf. She’d have to find out what this feeling was, and Veronica was sure that she’d find out tonight, at Heather Duke’s den.


	3. Meet the Dukes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Veronica meets the Duke family.

It was a relatively quiet night, with the moon at a quarter full. There was a slight breeze, and dark clouds were beginning to roll in. If he hadn’t been mistaken, there should be a storm coming. The somewhat old man knocked on the door of the small home, a traditional werewolf den. The door opened, revealing the matriarch of the pack in this area.

“Professor… What brings you here tonight?” The matriarch asked, as the professor came in without invitation. “Yeah, just make yourself at home.” She rolled her eyes and let the aging human into her den. Usually it was considered inappropriate to allow anyone who is not a werewolf into a den such as hers, but the old man before her was the exception. “There’s a storm brewing, I thought you would be halfway to the border by now.”

The old man turned around, allowing the werewolf to see the child in his hands. She was silent, as she exasperatedly looked at the child.

“Oh why… Why must you do this?” She sighed heavily and leaned toward the door. “For what reason would you bring a human child here?”

“You know very well, why I had to bring her here.” The professor said, walking forward toward her with a stern look on his face. “She needs a home, I can no longer care for her with what is going to happen. She needs to be raised by a good family that won’t consider her a threat!” The matriarch sighed and thought for a moment, before looking over to another room, where both adults could hear the sound of hushed sleeping.

“To be quite honest, I would have said yes a year ago. But you should know, I’ve had my own litter not too long ago.” She looked over and gently stroked the baby’s face, causing the small child to move restlessly. “This little one won’t be safe in a home of four baby werewolves, you know.”

The professor smiled and laughed.

“I guess it has been quite a while since I last saw you two. Already having children of your own, it seems like just yesterday…”

“You and your clan saved our pack, when it was still my momma’s, from the feral pack.” The woman laughed a little. “All of you humans got rid of them within a moment’s notice. It makes me wonder why you don’t just take back the world sometimes.”

“Maybe we don’t want to. Maybe we just don’t have the proper number of humans to stage such a coup.” The professor trailed off, and looked down to the baby. The infant seemed to be moving a bit in her sleep, but she still did not awaken. “But I’m at a loss for what to do with the little one. This town is not known for well… Their appreciation of the human race.”

“I assume you’ve heard the rumors then?”

“Yes, I have actually. Monsieur Chandler planned to launch an attack on the Morrison Clan. We moved their quarters quite a bit away, so I wouldn’t bet on him finding the place for a long while.” The professor trailed off again into silence. The matriarch’s ears twitched a bit, but she wasn’t sure why. “But I must take this child somewhere! Somewhere safe from the dangers she would encounter in my care.”

“Well the Duke pack has just too many of its own to care for.” The matriarch of the Duke family replied. She sighed a bit, with sad eyes. “You know I would take her if I could, but I can’t. Have you tried to get in contact with the Muses?”

“The Sawyers… No, I haven’t thought of that, yet.”

“So much for being the smartest person on this side of the country.”

“Oh silence! I will head their straight away. They may be the only hope for this dear one.”

The rain began to patter against the wooden door. It seemed as though the predicted rainstorm was beginning, and at the worst possible moment. The professor sighed, believing it was his time to leave. And then, Duke’s ears twitched again. They continued to twitch, until goosebumps ran over the woman’s body, and a horrifying sense of fear overcame her.

“T-that song…” Her body trembled, and she could see the old man’s body did the same. “What in the name of hell is that?!”

“It’s why I need to give up this child as soon as possible. You know there used to be an old human saying, quite some time ago.” The professor began heading toward the door, while Duke looked on at him.

“What was that saying, professor?” Duke asked, as the old man opened up the door and covered up the swaddled child. He looked over to her with a sad expression.

“Of all the creatures that were made, man is the most detestable.” The professor said, staring down to the ground. “Quite profound, mostly because it is true. Perhaps it was best that my ancestors were forced underground. Those of us who are left simply wish to bring peace to this careless caste that was built by the vampires.”

There was silence between the two as the professor bid his farewell and ran out into the rain. Duke could only breathe heavily as the horrifying song seemed to head after the human, leaving her den in peace. She could only hope that he saved that child. It had been quite a long time since anyone in her pack had a turning ritual for a human mate.

* * *

Veronica slowly opened the door to her room and peaked down to the end of the hallway. She quietly checked to see if her parents were downstairs, and luckily, they weren’t there. Her head turned to check if the lights were on in her parent’s bedroom, and they were. Sighing a breath of relief, Veronica slithered back into her own room and locked it as she usually did. Despite nearly being an adult, she was not allowed out after hours.

Her parents often told her that she might get targeted by some freaks and perverts, but she ruled that to simply having overprotective parents. The night was bright, with a nearly full moon shining above the world. Veronica was just happy that it wasn’t a full moon, or else she would have most likely had a much rougher time at the Duke residence.

Before she left, Veronica made sure to check herself out in the mirror to make sure she looked good. She was wearing a dark blue dress, one that Duke had complimented her on in the past.

“Looking good, Veronica. I hope.” The girl said to herself quietly, as to not alert her parents that she was leaving. Slowly, she opened the window to her room and climbed out onto the roof from her second-floor room. The same, she closed the window and turned back around. Only then, her heel slipped and she trembled backwards off the room.

There was rarely any time to think as she fell off the roof, but she didn’t scream at all. Because within a moment, she was being cradled in the arms of the girl who was waiting outside her house. In the light of the moon, Duke looked absolutely stunning. Her black hair wasn’t tied into a ponytail like it usually was, and now was hanging long and sparkling in the moonlight. She had a dark green dress on, similar to the one that Veronica was wearing.

“Oh, thank goodness, you caught me beautiful stranger.” Veronica said, with a joking voice. She ran her hand through Duke’s hair.

“Ha, I couldn’t let some clumsy artistic princess plunge to injury, could I?” Duke replied, nuzzling up against her face. “Your parents didn’t hear you, right?”

“Well no, they didn’t.” Veronica replied, as Duke put her down onto the ground. “Why is your dinner this late anyways?”

“Well it’s customary to have dinner when the mate is able to arrive. Since you have the most overprotective parents since Heather McNamara, my parents understand that you had to wait.” Duke explained, smiling and grabbing onto Veronica’s hand. Veronica felt safe in the warm grip of Duke. There was just something about being in her presence that made her feel safe and loved.

When it came to Chandler and McNamara, the latter whom was quite more pleasant, Veronica knew she was just their lunch. She hadn’t really gotten to know much of either vampire, but Duke had put in the effort during all of their lunches and other times together. Duke guessed it was being they were both the whipping dogs of the Heathers.

“Even in the Heathers, we still have social tiers. You and I just happen to be lower than two noble vampires.” Duke complained, as the two began toward Duke’s home.

“So, is like a werewolf den like a regular wolf den?” Veronica asked, prompting a small laugh from the other girl.

“Well it sounds like that, sure, but in reality, it’s just a fucking stone house.” Duke explained, smiling to Veronica as they walked under the beautiful moon above. “It’s just customary to call them dens, because it’s where a mother raises her litter until they find a mate. And of course, I’m the first in mine to find one.”

Veronica laughed a bit, and nodded. She was happy to know that her appearance was good for Duke’s self-esteem. If there was one thing that Veronica noticed, it was that Duke was a total slave to Chandler. If Chandler says to jump, Duke has to ask, “how high?” That’s the type of relationship that Duke had with Chandler. In a previous conversation, Duke had said she was allowed in because her name was Heather and the fact that she had a powerful nose.

“I was thinking, what does make your nose better than all of the other werewolves in school or in town?” Veronica asked, as the two were soon approaching the Duke Den. She could see that her green dressed date was thinking for a moment, before looking up at the moon.

“My mom said it was something about us being fully purebred. Our family has never bred with other races, only other purebred werewolves.” Duke came to a full-stop and looked up at the moon. Her eyes seemed even more beautiful with the reflection of a near full moon in them. She reached up toward it with her free hand. “That’s why my nose is so good… Because our family is as close as it gets to the original werewolves, humans who were cursed to become wolves as punishment for their crimes. Or that’s how dad used to tell it to us.” She seemed uneasy and Veronica squeezed her hand tight.

“And I bet you’re nervous about bringing me over, right?” Veronica asked, looking to Duke’s somewhat saddened face.

“I have this really… big attraction to you, if you couldn’t guess. It’s only been a month, but fuck you’ve treated me like someone who’s worth it.” Duke gripped Veronica’s hand back. “Even if I’m destroying generations of blood purity, I don’t give a shit. You’re my mate.”

A grin appeared on Veronica’s face, and she leaned her head into Veronica’s shoulder. She gave it a quick kiss, before looking to Duke’s eyes again.

“Yeah I am. And I guess if they can’t accept it, then we’ll just run away together.” Veronica joked a bit, and that caused a grin to appear on Duke’s saddened face. She smirked a bit more until she laughed.

“I can see the headlines now, ‘Gay Heiress to the Duke Pack runs away with Muse Lover, Opens Art Exhibition Next Monday!’” Duke laughed at her own joke, and she seemed to be in a much better mood which was definitely good for Veronica. She just wanted Duke to be a bit more confident, like she had in the bathroom.

“You’re the heiress to the whole Duke name?!” Veronica asked, seeing as she was quite surprised. Duke laughed and nodded, showing off her sharp teeth.

“Established my place in the hierarchy when I was little. My sisters didn’t stand a chance against me. That means whenever mom decides to retire her position or ends up passing away, I’ll be in charge of the family.” Duke explained, as the two of the came to a short stop in a clearing. The moon was directly over them and Duke seemed to bask in it. She then smiled, and pulled Veronica down onto the ground.

“Woah!” Veronica yelled, as the two fell to the ground. Duke grabbed her into a hug and began to nuzzle her again and kiss her neck. “W-what’s going on Heather?”

“The moon sometimes makes me go a bit crazy around this time.” Duke nibbled on Veronica’s ear, causing the girl to groan a bit. She couldn’t believe how truly sharp Duke’s teeth were. No wonder she was able to absolutely demolish her lunch in only a matter of minutes. These teeth truly were built to shred apart prey, whether they be in humanoid or wolf form. Of course, in a way Veronica enjoyed it. It made her feel like Duke was acting as her truest self instead of as the angry grouchy muscle of the Heathers. “It’s so fun to let loose sometimes!”

“E-even if our dresses get dirt on them?” Veronica asked, causing Duke to laugh once again. The green dressed girl got on top of Veronica and kissed her.

“Dirt just shows that you’re willing to get rough with little old me every time I go into heat.” Duke said, panting a bit and her face turning a bit red under the moonlight. She shook her head a bit and took a deep breath. “But we can do this later! After dinner!”

“Well at least there’s still some sense left in there.” Veronica said, smirking a bit. Duke pouted and got up to her feet, as well as getting her date as well. Duke quickly patted the dirt off of her dress, and did the same for Veronica.

“Well not like you Muses go into heat, so you don’t understand how much it makes me go crazy for you!” Duke yelled, grabbing onto Veronica’s hand. The girl seemed to be smiling again as she began running, faster and faster, pulling the blue dressed girl at a breakneck speed. It was incredibly how fast Duke could go, and probably even faster if she wasn’t pulling someone along. Suddenly, Duke came to a screeching halt, causing Veronica to as well.

They had arrived at Duke’s home. It wasn’t the smallest place, but it wasn’t too big either. It seemed like a moderate home, made entirely of stone. In a way, it reminded Veronica of those big mansions that very upper-class vampires owned, of course Duke’s home seemed homier than those big lonely mansions.

“Here we are! Home-sweet-home~” Duke sang in a sing-song voice. Going up to the door, she knocked on it rather quickly. “Mother I’m home with my mate!” There was quick moving from inside the home, and the door was quickly opened.

Veronica stood in awe of Duke’s mother. She seemed like an older, more muscular version of the younger Heather that stood in front of her. Her hair was cut short, and she seemed to be wearing a very posh suit for the occasion. Her eyes had that same beautiful reflection that her daughter had, but they also showed an amazing amount of wisdom and respect. One might have been afraid if they met this woman out on the town, but not Veronica. She was with this wolf’s daughter, and rightfully so her mother had a large smile on her face.

She took a deep breath and sniffed Veronica, causing the blue dressed girl to blush. For a moment, she seemed incredulous before withdrawing back. There was a look on her mom’s face that seemed confused, but was soon replaced with a sly smile filled with playful deviance, but also a hint of intrigue.

“Moooooooom, please don’t embarrass me in front of Veronica!” Duke complained a bit, only to receive a hardy laugh from her mother.

“Oh Heather, you definitely brought home… the best possible mate this family could ask for.” Duke’s mother said, smiling and extended her hand out to Veronica, before pulling it back and just enveloping the short girl into a hug. “Welcome to the family, dear!”

Veronica felt like she was having the life squeezed out of her, but she did her best to return the hug. Once again, the younger Duke was pouting and rolling her eyes.

“Come on! Let’s just get dinner started!” Duke said, her face completely red, as she pulled her mother and Veronica into the den before slamming the door shut in a frenzy of embarrassment.

Veronica took a moment to look around, before Duke’s mother pointed to wherever the dining room must have been.

“Let’s get started sooner than later~ There are just so many things to talk about!” Duke’s mother said, in a loud excited voice. Veronica smiled and nodded, as she was pulled deeper into the wolf’s lair.


	4. Meet the Dukes II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Veronica meets the Duke family.

“It’s really nice of you to allow me here for dinner, Mrs. Duke. Especially considering how late it is, and how short notice I came.” Veronica said, as Duke’s mother led her to the table. A somewhat tired looking man was sitting, his nose right into a rather thick book. The other seats contained two rowdy girls of Duke’s age, and another who was more like her father, with her nose in a text book. Veronica hadn’t seen any of them before, so she assumed they had to have gone to a different high school than Duke had.

“There’s no trouble at all Veronica. And please, call me Julia. You’re part of our family now, even though there’s no marriage yet.” Julia said, pulling out a seat for Veronica to take. The guest smiled and thanked her, before sitting down. Duke made sure to quickly sit next to Veronica, separating her from the two rowdy Duke siblings. “It’s a valuable time in a young werewolf’s life when they choose a mate.”

“Even though she chose a Muse instead of a werewolf.” The bookish Duke sister said, flipping a page. Duke wanted to growl at her, but Veronica put her hand on Duke’s thigh and squeezed it to reassure her.

“Now Ashe, that’s no way to speak to your future sister-in-law.” Julia said, as she walked over to oversee the meat dinner she was preparing.

“Plus, it’s not like you even have a mate Ashe, so I’d shut your mouth before I do it for you.” Duke said, showing her teeth to her sister. Ashe didn’t seem to have much of an opinion of her sister’s threat, causing Veronica to guess that Duke was probably good at empty threats on her sister.

“Everyone finds their mate at their own time, Heather.” Julia said, taking a whiff of the cooking meat. “I didn’t meet your father until I was a bit older than you. Poor boy was going to get mauled by a feral if I hadn’t chased it off.” She laughed a bit to herself. Her husband put his book down and hid his face behind it. Veronica chuckled a bit, assuming he was a bit embarrassed.

“So much for a purebred werewolf, huh, dad?” One of the two play fighting sisters said, laughing a little.

“I had to get samples of unicorn blood for my college lab. I would have taken that feral down too if I hadn’t had to have protected those precious vials!” Duke’s father said, attempting to reverse his own embarrassment. Julia simply laughed as she walked over with plates and laid them down.

“You say, having dropped the vials onto the ground and you begged me to track down another unicorn for you.”

“Hahaha, I guess I must have forgotten that part.” Duke’s father replied, laughing sheepishly. It was a close-knit family, as Veronica presumed. Like wild wolves, werewolf packs were close to their family more than anything else. So, having someone like herself here made Veronica feel like part of the family.

Ashe put her book down, since dinner was going to begin soon. She looked over to Veronica, with a glint in her eye. She had long scraggly black hair and glasses on her face. For a moment, the two simply locked their gazes.

“So how did a Muse attract my alpha sister?” Ashe asked, putting her chin on her hand to relax her head. The girl tilted her head and squinted her eyes a bit, unnerving Veronica a little bit.

“I-I dunno really I guess I just was nice to her? I think?”

“Really? You were nice to her? And that was it?”

“Her scent too! She has a beautiful scent that I can’t get out of my head! A perfect mother for my children!” Duke said, laying her head into Veronica’s shoulder, and nudging it lovingly.

“C-children!?” Veronica asked, her face going completely red. This suddenly caused the other family members to laugh a bit, even putting a small smile on Ashe’s face.

Duke laughed too, and continued to nuzzle against Veronica’s shoulder. The blue-dressed girl could only blush profusely as she tried to hide her face. Now it was her turn to be embarrassed by her overly affectionate date.

Julia began putting out large cuts of meat for the whole family, with the exception of Veronica and Duke’s father. Duke whispered into Veronica’s ear.

“Dad is a beta, so he doesn’t really need that much like the rest of us do.” Duke whispered, trying her hardest not to begin nibbling on Veronica’s ear again.

“Wait so you and your sisters are all alphas?” Veronica whispered back, gaining a nod from Duke in response. This surprised Veronica heavily. “Even Ashe?”

“Especially Ashe.” Duke said, putting her hand on Veronica’s thigh. “She’s shy and quiet until she finds something she likes, and then she launches onto them faster than anyone else.” Veronica looked over to Ashe, who was trying to hide a devilish smile from Veronica. It made the poor girl shudder.

Julia finished putting the meat out, and then sat down to begin their dinner. It didn’t take long for everyone to begin actually tearing into their meat.

“Now, Veronica, tell us how to first came to meet our Heather. She still hasn’t told us~” Julia said in a sing song voice, as she tore apart a rather fatty looking part of her cut. Duke looked red in the face, but Veronica gave her a reassuring pat on the leg.

“Well it was just kind of by accident.” Veronica said, chewing her meat hard. As expected it was a little bit tough for the normal flat teeth she had. She used her canines to the best of their abilities, bit it was still a tough job. Julia and Ashe seemed amused by this. “I didn’t really feel like getting hassled at school, so I tried to just get by hanging around with the Heathers.”

“Is that it? You just happened to find your soulmate by luck?” Julia asked, smirking a bit and licking her lips a bit. “I feel like there’s a little bit more to that story than meets the eye.”

“Well I guess. I mean I impressed them with some of my talent to help them out, but I only really intended to hang around for a day or two so people would mess with me.” Veronica tried to explain, only getting a short nod from Julia. The older werewolf smiled, before laughing a bit.

“Let me guess. Like any teenage Muse, you began forging notes for them!”

“MOM!” Duke whined, her face matching the color of the blood on her meat. Veronica, her face turning a beet embarrassed red, laughed a little.

“H-how’d you know?”

“I remember my high school years. Believe it or not, I knew your mother. Not personally, but she made a name for herself by selling forgeries for people.” Julia replied, taking another bite of her meat. In the brief time they were speaking, the alphas were almost done with their first plate. “She was the only Muse in school, so she really monopolized that market well.”

“Oh wow! I guess it really is a small world after all.”

“More like small town!” Julia laughed, finishing off her plate around the same time as her daughters. “Everyone knows each other for the most part when you live in a town like this. It’s like osmosis.”

Julia got up from the table and placed more meat on she and her daughter’s plates. Veronica was never going to be over how fast they could devour these pieces of meat.

“It’s rough cut of meat.” Veronica said, not even halfway done with her own dinner. “What is it exactly?”

“Bear meat, Veronica! It’s a rough cut sure, but for us it’s one of the best sources of protein. Probably the best source we can get.” Julia said, beginning to cut herself another large portion for consumption.

“Except for humans.” Ashe said, her voice filled with sarcasm. The Duke mother did not look pleased with her daughter’s joke, and simply gave her a glare that would give Medusas a run for their money. There was an uncomfortable amount of silence for a moment, and Veronica wasn’t sure what to say or do. Julia just sighed and looked over to their guest.

“I… apologize for my daughter’s words Veronica. My family, especially my daughters, know how poor taste it is to speak about eating humans.” Julia said, biting her bear steak, before tearing it apart quickly. “As you probably know, our family of werewolves are descended from nothing but purebreds.”

“Yeah.” Veronica nodded to the mother. “Heather told me on our way here. She said that you were the closest relation to the remnants of humanity than any other race!” This made Julia smiled and nod her head.

“That’s correct. The Duke family itself wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for human help.” The mother said, only to receive a glare back from Ashe.

“Mom why do you always tell that story to people? We all know you’re just lying to make it sound like humans are worth a damn.” Ashe said, picking a piece of meat out of her teeth. Her mother could only roll her eyes in return.

“It’s the truth. When I was just a pup, the Duke family was much larger. But tragedy struck when we were attacked by dire wolves. There were more pups than there were adults, so it seemed like our line was at an end.” Julia said, stopping her eating and recalling her past. “And that’s when they arrived.”

“Who arrived?” Veronica asked, tilting her head a bit. She was genuinely interested in hearing the story now.

“The Van Helsing clan appeared before our encampment. I’ll never forget how their matriarch scooped me up into her arms and shoving a sword right into the pack leader’s face.” Julia said, clutching her fist a bit and smiling. “It was absolutely amazing seeing how an entire pack of dire wolves were taken down by them! By humans! All my life prior to then, I thought of humans just like the rest of the world. But in that moment, I realized humans were just like everyone else except… different.”

“Mom, they are different. They’re different because they would capitalize on hunting us before the races united to overthrow them.” Ashe said, picking up book and showing it. It seemed to be a text on the history of the overthrowing of humanity.

“That’s wrong, Ashe. Those humans showed true strength. Even though they don’t have the speed and strength of a werewolf, or the all-knowing wisdom of vampires, or the ability to fly like a phoenix… They were able to do what my entire family had trouble doing.” Julia said, her entire voice sparkling with respect for the people who had apparently saved her. “Once they were all gone, the humans didn’t say anything. They took us to a new clearing in the forest and helped us build some new shelters. I’ll never forget what that woman said to me.”

_“But I thought that all humans were bad?”_

_“Humans can be bad. But so can any race, right?”_

_“Yeah! I heard about some trolls robbing the bank a few days ago!”_

_“That’s right little one. Humans are the same. A lot of us are nice and peace loving, but others can use their power for wrong just like those trolls. So never forget that everyone has a peaceful side.”_

“And the sword above our fire place was the one she gave my mother. She said that if they ever needed the help of the Van Helsing clan again, we just had to simply reflect the moon light into the gem on the hilt and they’d come running to our assistance.” Julia concluded her story, and Duke’s eyes seemed to spark.

“I love that story mom!” Duke said, her eyes still shining heavily.

“Too bad it’s just that, a story Heather.” Ashe said, adjusting her glasses and leaning back in her chair. She crossed her arms and legs, before licking her lips clean. “None of it is real. My human history teacher told me humans waged war more times on each other than any monster has done since the overthrowing. Humans are the truest incarnations of animals filled with malice for each other! They’re all no good! And I can’t wait for the day they announce humanity has gone extinct!”

Julia sighed and closed her eyes a little bit. Veronica was stunned by the speech and how both mother and daughter could have such different opinions on the topic of humans. The blue-dressed girl didn’t have much of an opinion on humans. Muses were, in history, assistants to giving human artists inspiration to write, compose, and create art. And Veronica had seen some ancient art from the human Golden Age. They were quite beautiful, and sometimes wondered how creatures like that could create beauty, but at the same time slaughter each other over petty differences.

Julia cracked her neck, as everyone had cleared their plates except Veronica. The meat was just too tough for her poor teeth. Duke smiled and put her arm around Veronica.

“Don’t worry too hard Ronnie. I’ve seen what you eat at lunch, I knew there was no way you were gonna finish that.” Veronica said, giving Veronica’s ear a little bit of a nibble. This not only caused Veronica to blush, but she could see that it made Ashe flare up red. But that red was more of jealousy than it was just embarrassment.

“Yet you gave it to me anyways.” Veronica said dryly, a laugh erupting from Duke and her two non-anti human sisters.

“Heather likes to see how far non-werewolves can get into one of our normal meals!” The first sister said, biting her lips a bit.

“Yeah, and you ate a lot more than the one sea nymph we had here for dinner that one time.” The other said, laughing at an apparent memory. Veronica got up and helped Julia clear the table.

“Why thank you, Veronica. You’re already a go getter in our family, and it’s only our first dinner together.” Julia said, smiling to the young girl.

“It’s no problem at all. My mom told me to always help if you’re being served dinner at a person’s home.”

“Well that’s good advice. Respect is what it’s called. Respect for yourself and the host.” Julia said, putting the empty plates into a sink. Dinner seemed to be over and the table had dispersed. Only Duke remained and she got up to join Veronica. She smiled and grabbed Veronica’s hand.

“I can’t wait for…” Duke began to say, only stop when her mother placed her hand on both girls’ shoulder. She seemed rather serious.

“Now I’m sure the lovely couple has some rather private things to do, but I do have something to speak to you about.” Julia said, her voice quiet and serious. “It’s about the future of your relationship, so follow me to the ancestral room.”

“The ancestral room?” Veronica asked, looking to Duke. Duke nodded to her.

“Yeah, it’s basically a little library with everything our family has done in recorded history.” Duke said, as her mother led the couple to the room. She opened it up, and all three entered, before Julia locked the door behind her. She sat down in a rather nice-looking chair, while Duke and Veronica sat down on a similarly nice couch. Again, her eyes looked like she had something serious to say.

“What’s up mom?” Duke asked, leaning on Veronica a bit. “You only bring people in here when you have something like really serious to say.” Julia nodded with a solemn expression on her face.

“That I do. Now, Veronica I can tell one thing from our dinner tonight. And that’s the fact you are the ideal partner for my daughter.” Julia began saying, making Duke’s eyes light up. Veronica bet if Duke had a tail right now, she would probably be waggling it in excitement. “But I recognized your scent the moment you came in with my daughter.”

“You recognized my scent?” Veronica asked, tilting her head a bit. “Did I smell like my mom?” Julia laughed sadly, and looked down.

“To a younger wolf like my daughters yes, you would smell like your mom. Tell me, in the morning do you a shot?” Julia asked, looking Veronica dead in the eye. The girl looked rather nervous. She was about to reply no, but Julia began speaking. “There’s no need to say anything, I can tell by the look on your face that you do.”

“S-so what if I do? My mom said I had a birth problem, and I need to take shots to make sure I stay healthy.” Veronica said, looking a bit nervous. How did this werewolf she had never met know she was taking shots?

“That isn’t medicine Veronica. It’s pure pheromone.” Julia stated bluntly, causing both Duke and Veronica’s eyes to go wide.

“Pure pheromone? Mom what do you mean by that?” Duke asked, leaning forward rather quickly.

“Heather, the reason why Veronica smells so nice to you is because you’ve never smelled a Muse before. So, you assumed that’s what a Muse smells like because of the small lingering scent of the Muse pheromones.” Julia began to explain, twiddling her thumbs a bit. “But to a werewolf, only one thing smells as good as you do Veronica. And specifically, yours is a scent I remember from 17 years ago.”

_“You know very well, why I had to bring her here. She needs a home, I can no longer care for her with what is going to happen!”_

“Veronica Sawyer, you mean a great deal to this family. It’s a very special ritual that my daughter will get to perform with you. One that no one in our family has done in generations!” Julia aid, her eyes snapping wide open.

“A special ritual? Mom what exactly are you saying? Are you saying Veronica… isn’t a Muse?” Duke asked, leaning forward even more. There was a moment of silence, before Duke’s mother nodded.

“That’s correct. You, Veronica Sawyer, are not a Muse like your parents said you were. Rather…” Duke’s mother tensed up, as a pit appeared in her stomach. “Rather… Rather…! Veronica Sawyer, you who will marry my daughter, are a human. And as a human who is going to enter my household, my family, my very life! I must tell you that you and my daughter will engage in the ancient ritual of the turning.”

Veronica sat in silence, as well as Duke. There was nothing but silence as Duke moved toward Veronica and hugged her tight. Duke could feel that Veronica was shaking a bit.

“Ronnie, I love you no matter what, okay? This won’t ever change the fact that I want to love you!”

Veronica just continued to shake, her very being feeling empty. She could barely speak.

“I’m a… human?”


	5. The Prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Veronica goes over to McNamara's.

The day seemed like nothing more than a blur to Veronica, as she simply followed the routine steps of her day. Go to class, eat lunch with Duke, be fed on in the bathroom, rinse, and repeat. No wonder McNamara and Chandler loved her blood so much. Veronica just happened to have the most delicious blood in the city, and there was no one else for her.

“So, is this my life? Haha…” Veronica said to herself, incredibly quiet and full of spite. Why would her parents do this to her? Probably to protect her, of course. When she was little she got sick, and her doctor was this weird man with a lack of emotion when dealing with her. He had to have known too. That Doctor Frankenstein was probably in on this conspiracy too.

Maybe she was some type of experiment among higher up monsters, Veronica thought to herself as McNamara sat on her lap in the bathroom and drank from her neck. To prove that humans could be raised by monsters and not be the violent horrible creatures that humans raised by humans were.

Since that date night, Veronica made sure to avoid Duke for the most part. It wasn’t Duke’s fault for anything that happened, but she felt like she needed some time to simply mull over her life until she continues on. Julia had mentioned that Veronica could be turned by Duke in a very sacred ritual, which would transmogrify Veronica into a completely purebred werewolf. She would most likely be the purest in the entire world, seeing as the more human the werewolf is, the purer they are.

Even then, she would be erasing the mystery that she now had to answer. Who was she? Where did she come from? How did she end up in the care of her parents? There were so many questions for her to answer, and becoming a werewolf would only prevent her from diving into it as deeply as she wished.

McNamara, as she fed on Veronica’s blood, could feel the girl tensing up all over. This had been going on for several days, and the blue shirted girl seemed incredibly distant as well. The way she spoke to the Heathers seemed very depressing. Her hair seemed to not have been cleaned in days, and McNamara could tell that oil was beginning to build up in it.

As McNamara finished her feeding and retracted her fangs, she got up and looked at Veronica. Usually, Veronica would be rubbing the spot where she and Chandler fed, but now Veronica simply got up and exhaled a breath of sadness. The yellow dressed vampire, wanting nothing more than to wrap up her friend in a nice big hug, simply frowned.

Chandler clicked her tongue a bit, and looked at the watch on her wrist.

“Okay fuck girls let’s get a move on.” Chandler unlocked the bathroom door, and the girls followed her out. There were a group of female students waiting outside the door to use the bathroom. The blonde bombshell simply gave the group a thumb up. “Bathroom’s all yours ladies.”

The female students thanked her, and each quickly got into the bathroom before the bell rang for the next period. Chandler looked over to her cohorts.

“Okay girls, I’ll see you right after school is fucking over. I have to go do some bullshit or something for the student council. So, do what you want, just don’t fuck up anything.” There were no questions or answers, as Chandler rotated her body around and walked down the hall.

Veronica simply watched her walk off down the hall, before looking at Duke. The green-shirted werewolf frowned a bit, and McNamara could taste the tension in the air. Something definitely had gone down between Veronica and Duke, which was resulting in both of them collapsing down into whatever depression was eating them.

The three sat in awkward silence for a few more minutes before Duke, without a word, turned around and left, leaving Veronica and McNamara alone. Despite having known Veronica for a while, they never had a one-on-one conversation before. The blonde vampire was a little nervous as she looked down at Veronica.

“Ummm hey Ronnie. Can I call you Ronnie, or do you prefer Veronica?” McNamara asked, attempting to make conversation with the shorter girl. Veronica, looking completely disinterested, just shrugged a bit.

“I don’t really care that much, Heather. Call me what you like.” Veronica just leaned against the wall, and her tone was that of just genuine emotionless disinterest. However, McNamara was rather good at reading people, and since Veronica seemed incredibly upset McNamara only had one idea in mind.

“Well Ronnie, you’ve been pretty sad lately.” McNamara stated rather flatly, as Veronica raised one of her eyebrows.

“Implying… what exactly? Yeah, I haven’t been feeling the best lately, sorry if I seem cranky.” Veronica just crossed her arms a bit and stared at McNamara, who gave her a lovely smile. The depressed human could only hold back a small blush, considering how beautiful McNamara was.

“Well, how about I take you out. After school, we’ll make up a lie and go to my favorite place in the entire world. It’ll be super fun!” McNamara gave another bright smile and twirled around, causing her skirt to twirl with her. Veronica made sure to dodge her eyes away, as McNamara finished and walked forward. “I will make you smile!” She gave Veronica a tight hug and pulled away.

“Umm sure yeah, okay.” Veronica said, blushing a little bit from being pulled into McNamara’s warmth. She really wasn’t sure what to make of McNamara, but the girl just smiled as the bell rang and she ran off.

The final school bell soon rang, and Veronica wandered the hall of crowded monsters looking for McNamara. As she looked, she bumped into someone in the hall.

“Oof! Oh gosh, sorry I wasn’t looking where I was going.” Veronica backed away to look at who she bumped into.

“Nah it’s fine, I wasn’t looking either. Oh, you’re that Heather not-Heather, right?” The boy asked, scratching the back of his head. He was a little bit taller than Veronica, but was shorter than both Chandler and McNamara. His incredibly pale skin contrasted heavily with the attire he was adorned in. He wore jeans, a black t-shirt, and a black trench coat. Veronica could only internally snicker at this guy, who apparently thought he was a badass.

“Veronica Sawyer.” Veronica plainly stated, shrugging her shoulder. She looked down to her watch, and clicked her tongue. She was going to be late for her date with McNamara if she didn’t leave now. “I’m sorry, I’d really love to continue this conversation, but I need to get going. What’s your name?”

“My name? It’s Jason, Jason Dean. But most people just call me JD.” JD said, as Veronica turned around and ran off.

“Well see you around JD!” Veronica was bolting toward the stairs, and failed to see a somewhat malicious smirk on the boy’s face as she ran off.

Her blonde date, ever smiling, was waiting for Veronica at the stairwell. It didn’t take much time for the two to catch each other. McNamara had already told Chandler she had errands to run, so they were able to be alone. Duke had gone home sick, having eaten rotten meat. That news made Veronica frown, but McNamara only smiled and rubbed her back.

“Let’s go to my house, okay?” McNamara asked, only for Veronica to nod in agreement. The regal girl took Veronica’s hand and took her out of the school. Step-by-step, they made their way down streets and deep out of the city proper. Veronica was confused, but she forgot that McNamara’s family was… well loaded. Her mouth opened a bit as they arrived at a large castle-mansion, the type that only the richest vampires could afford.

“Woah this place is enormous!” Veronica’s mouth was agape, and McNamara could only smirk and laugh.

“That’s right. My mom makes beneficial use of the big place by housing all of the employees for free. She only feels it’s right to give the staff housing if they’re going to work at the mansion.” McNamara grabbed Veronica and held her in a princess-carry, causing the human girl to become beet red. “We do a lot of different work here at McNamara Manor, including running a restaurant, renting out spaces to guests, and all of that stuff! Of course, I’m not supposed to bring friends over after school, so I have to sneak you in!”

In a display of amazing physical feat, McNamara leapt up high into the air onto the balcony that led into her room. With a swift kick, the door to her room opened and McNamara stepped in. The room was amazing, and a far step above Veronica’s normal modest room. Despite being a vampire, a large mirror was adorned on the wall. Her bed had to have been queen sized, and beautiful painting hung above her bed and desk. A chest sat next to her bed, where McNamara sat Veronica down.

“Wow this room is definitely beautiful…” Veronica’s eyes scanned the room, while her date turned around and removed a book from her shelf. She sat down on her bed, and patted the space beside her. Veronica took this as a note, and quickly stepped over to the bed and got down on it.

“What’s this book?” Veronica looked over, as McNamara opened it.

“This is a scrapbook of my family. The camera used for these use an extremely special lens and celluloid, one that allows vampires to be captured on film.” McNamara explained, just as she opened up the book and began to show pictures of a younger McNamara and her mother.

“Woah you’re pretty adorable, aren’t you?” Veronica asked, looking through several of the photos of the two vampires.

“Hee hee, yeah I think I was a pretty cute and still am!” McNamara laughed, hoping to spread it over to Veronica but it didn’t work. She proceeded to turn the page, showing a small Chandler playing with McNamara. “Oh, here’s when Channy and I were little! She was so small and cute and I could totally eat her up.”

The two girls continued to look through the scrapbook for the rest of the night, with each minute McNamara hoped that Veronica would smile. Even though she didn’t smile, McNamara could tell that her guest was having an enjoyable time. Soon enough, the moon was out and neither had even noticed that so much time had gone by.

“It’s this late already?” McNamara’s mouth opened as she closed the book and leaped to her feet. She quickly twirled over to her shelf and placed the book back, before skipping over and getting Veronica to her feet.

“Woah, woah! What’re you doing Heather?” The human asked, as Veronica was twirled up and pulled along by McNamara out of her room and down the hall to the bathroom. “Why’re we in here?” The vampire gave a bright looking grin and sat Veronica down in a chair, and leaned her head back into a sink.

“Your hair needs some dire help, Ronnie. You haven’t been taking loving care of it and I can’t allow you to look so horrid when there’s a mega cutie under there.” Knowing that she couldn’t fight against a vampire, Veronica simply allowed McNamara to go through the stages of a deep cleanse of her hair.

The blonde hummed an old tune as she washed Veronica’s oily hair. Soon enough, Veronica’s hair was nice and clean. After, Veronica was placed in front of the bathroom mirror where McNamara took diligent care to dry the beautifully black hair, before beginning to regally braid Veronica’s hair.

“Wow, you’re giving me the full treatment, aren’t you?” Veronica turned to look at McNamara, who simply continued to braid her hair.

“I have one last surprise in store for you, Ronnie. And it requires me to pull out the utmost beauty in you.” With her hair finished, McNamara helped Veronica up and walked her back down to her room. They entered the room, and the girl locked her door before going to her closet. The wooden door swung open, as the vampire removed something.

There was only one word for what Veronica saw: stunning. It was a much more beautifully adorned version of the yellow dress that McNamara commonly wore everywhere she went. But this was a stunning aqua blue, and looked like it was fit for a princess. And then it clicked in her head. That’s why McNamara was doing all this.

“Now go into the closet and put this on! I won’t take no for an answer.” Quickly, Veronica was given the dressed and shoved into the closet. She didn’t really have a choice, but even if she did, she would definitely try on the dress. Her family wasn’t the richest around, so they couldn’t really afford such an extensively tailored and intricate dress. Stripping down, Veronica got into the dress and made sure it fit, which it did perfectly.

Pushing the door open, McNamara simply looked stunned as she watched Veronica approach the mirror.

Veronica smiled as she looked at her reflection via the mirror supplied in McNamara’s room. So, this was what it was like to look beautiful, Veronica thought to herself. The dress was so beautiful and sparkling, Veronica imagined herself as some sort of regal vampire princess.

“I told you I would make you smile.” McNamara stepped around her and gave a wide grin.

“I-I am totally not smiling, Heather!” Veronica quickly tried to wipe her smile off of her face, but McNamara had already accomplished her mission.

“You totally are, Ronnie! I see that smirk on your face!” McNamara laughed a bit and nuzzled up against Veronica’s face, causing the other girl to blush heavily.

“Fine, I guess I am smiling. But only because this dress of yours is absolutely amazing!” Veronica twirled around in the dress, causing herself to crack another smile. She did absolutely adore what she had been given.

“Well it’s for you. I knew something like this would make you smile, because it makes me smile. Now wait just a moment!” McNamara stepped into her closet, and didn’t come out for a few moments. Veronica tilted her head a bit in confusion. “Okay here I come!”

“How do I look, Veronica?” McNamara came out from behind the curtain and turned around to give Veronica a full view. She was no longer wearing her standard yellow dress, but was rather wearing a very prince-like outfit. It was just as regal as her

“W-woah you look… stunning! I didn’t know you played both roles!” Veronica only managed to stammer a bit as McNamara finished the ensemble by tying off her hair into a ponytail.

“I love clothes, Ronnie. Some might say this is only for males, but for me and my mother? It’s simply another piece of wonderful clothing. My mom used to wear this, but when I turned 17 she gave it to me, sword included. In the end, I look great as both the prince and the princess.” McNamara drew her sword from its sheath and raised it up toward the ceiling. Veronica couldn’t help but smile again at McNamara.

The princely vampire girl then proceeded to slowly approach Veronica, before hugging her from behind. Blood began to rush to her cheeks, as McNamara began hugged tighter and tighter. She gave off a great warmth, similar to the one Duke gave her. Her stomach had that same pit when she first kissed Duke in the bathroom.

“I wanted to make you feel warm and loved, Veronica. For a few days, I could tell that you and Heather have been feeling really depressed. Something happened between you two, and I want to fix it since I hate seeing my two close friends so down.” McNamara ran her hand through Veronica’s hair and sniffed it a bit, causing the girl to become even redder than before.

What was the way to describe this experience? It was more tame and regal than it was with Duke, who was much wilder and liked to rough. When she was with Duke, she felt like a loved part of the family. Now, with McNamara, she felt like the lonely princess being saved from the tower of despair by her beautiful knight.

“Something happened a while ago and… I’ve just been having a terrible time figuring out what to do.” Veronica began to pour her heart out. “Something bad happened to me, and I was with Heather when it happened. It’s not her fault, I just feel like I’ve done something terrible to here. And I care for her so much! There’s so much… I just… I just…”

Veronica turned around and buried her face into McNamara’s chest. Her hands gripped onto McNamara’s sleeves, and the blonde could feel tears begin to run through her clothing. McNamara could do nothing more than hold the girl tight. With one hand, she held Veronica close, and the other she began to gently run her hand through Veronica’s washed hair.

Giving a gentle smile, McNamara soon began to lift Veronica’s face out of her chest. Their eyes locked, and Veronica’s lips trembled a bit. Why did she have this feeling? She thought she only had this for Duke, but now… Why did she feel this way? Her heart raced as fast as it did with Duke.

Her eyes closed tight, as she felt herself be pulled forward by McNamara. The light, coming off of the crescent moon, beamed down on Veronica and McNamara. Their lips touched and they held it there for several moments. It felt right. It felt just as right as it did with Duke. They soon broke apart, and stared at each other as they got their breath back.

“Veronica…” McNamara ran her hand down Veronica’s back, as Veronica laid her head into McNamara’s chest. The two soon waltzed under the crescent moonlight. Even though the human was not the best at classical dancing, she felt quite confident as McNamara led her. “My dear human princess… I will protect you from all the terrible monsters.” She was so entranced, Veronica didn’t even notice.


	6. Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mysterious singing creature appears.

“I ask this of you in great faith, Lily.” The grey-haired man asked, with a somewhat medium-sized wooden case in his hands. Before him stood quite a beauty, a blonde vampire with blood red-eyes and a beautifully composed face.

“You wish for me… to carry on such a legacy? Alucard…” The woman looked down at the box, and slowly reached out to grab it. Her hands began to shake, as she took it into her hands. Just having such a thing in

“That I do. In this time, I must form alliances for when that day comes… Long ago, when my father dared to wage war on humanity, I came to wage war on my father, who would go against all of my mother’s principles and destroy humanity.” Alucard stood his ground, his voice filled with his resolve.

“But there are still humans left in other countries, why would you ever be this fearful for their extinction?” Lily held the box close to her chest.

“My father’s hatred knows no bounds, McNamara. Soon the day will come when he purges humanity from the Earth for the last time, and the ancestors of this planet will officially be extinct.” Alucard said, revulsion in his voice. Lily could tell that Alucard truly detested his father with all of his being.

“And you truly believe this is the best option? To leave such a legendary weapon with my family? With me?”

“Your family, McNamara, is of the most mixed bloodline in the east of this country. For that, I know only you will heed my advice. As we both know your mother, a human, was burned at the stake for being a human. And your father was sentenced to three human life sentences for daring to procreate with her.” Alucard recounted from his well-versed mind of events. If there was anything to do with the elimination of an innocent human, he would know.

“Yes, we are both alike: Our fathers, vampires, and our mothers, human.” Lily put her hand to her chest and held it there.

“Correct, we are half-human and half-vampire. But unlike my father, your mother was killed by his own people. So, it made him wonder if humans were as evil as history would pertain they are.”

McNamara looked down and opened up the box, revealing the most powerful weapon for monster hunting to ever be conceived. The weapon was adorned with the most beautiful leather, despite it being a bit worn. The length of the whip could be mistaken for a rose vine, covering in small dangerous spines.

“You may touch it, just as I have wielded it before. The blood of human runs within us, even more so than our pureblooded cousins. This legendary whip, the Vampire Killer, was blessed and consecrated centuries ago for the sole reason of monster extermination. Given to me by… by…” Alucard closed his eyes for a moment, and a single tear ran down his face.

The blonde vampire wiped the bloody tear from his face with a cloth, staining it red. It was not often that vampires were able to truly weep, resulting in bloody red tears.

“Alucard… You miss him, don’t you?”

“Lily, there isn’t a single day I do not miss that man who gave me a reason to live again. My heart belongs to him, and him only.” He gripped his hands tight, and Lily could feel the fire from within him. “My greatest loss was the day I lost him… the day I lost all of them.”

The tears began to fall again, and Alucard wiped them with his black cloth sleeves. Suddenly, the clock began to ring indicating it was midnight. The pale-faced man, made sure the blood was cleared from his face and he closed his cloak.

“I will return, Lily. It won’t be for quite some time, but until then you must take care of that whip to the moment you find the human that can wield its full potential.” Alucard faced the open window for a moment as the full moon shone down upon him. “You must find the human who will bear the name of their ancestors.”

“How will I be able to do that, Alucard? Why not go directly to the Van Helsings? Or to the Morrisons? I’m sure both families would be more than delighted to have their salvation in this whip!” Lily stepped forward, having closed the small wooden box that contained the weapon. Alucard’s eyes closed shut and he tapped his hands together.

“Only the blood of one family can wield that weapon. The human must have that family’s blood in order to successfully use its power. For once they have honed that ability, we will be able to unite humanity and monsters in peace all over the world.” Alucard began running forward and leapt out the open window. “This is what we fight for! The peace of our world! The peace that our human ancestors fought for! To destroy the evil that is known as…”

**_“Dracula!”_ **

* * *

Lunch was even more tense than it usually was. Chandler sat alone, opposite of Veronica, who was beginning to sweat nervously. Her right arm was being clutched by McNamara, now dressed back in her normal yellow dress, while her left was being held onto by Duke, who was growling a bit at McNamara.

“Well aren’t you little miss popular, Ronnie?” Chandler’s voice was filled with the deepest amount of sarcasm. Any moment, Veronica was sure that her entire face would be ripped off by the group’s leader. Well, it would be if she didn’t have the two most overly protective girls ever next to her.

“Umm yeah I guess I am…” Veronica’s line of thought trailed off as the two girls got closer to her. She could feel the glares the two girls were giving each other.

“Heather, I don’t think you know the meaning of hands off.” McNamara said, as she hugged Veronica’s arm tight. Gently, she began stroking Veronica’s head and laid into her shoulder.

“Yeah Heather, I’m pretty sure you don’t fucking know what coming first means!” Duke hugged Veronica’s other arm even tighter before beginning to nibble on her ear. The blue-shirted girl began to blush an inconceivable amount, as the two girls began to fight over Veronica. Chandler could only roll her eyes and sigh. The queen looked at the two with venom-infused eyes.

“Since when are you two head-over-heels for Ronnie? Like where the fuck have I been to have missed this?!” Chandler asked herself, throwing her hands on the lunch table. The two girls looked at Chandler and both shrugged.

“If you weren’t so obsessed with not looking at yourself in the mirror…” Duke stuck her tongue out at Chandler, causing the girl to furrow her brow in anger.

“Maybe you would have noticed what was going on around you!” McNamara finished Duke’s sentence and nuzzled even closer in Veronica’s shoulder and neck. “I’m gonna keep her safe from all the baddies who might try to take her from me. And that includes you Heather.”

“Well she’s my mate for life, and I’ll fucking freeze in Hell before I let some snotty vampire steal my girl!” The werewolf growled at the vampire, and most likely would have jumped at her if it wasn’t for the human shield in front of her.

Veronica looked to Chandler for help, but the vampire only shrugged to her.

“This is what you get for pursuing romance, Ronnie. Now you see why I only love myself! Because I won’t have multiple of me trying to rip themselves apart.” Chandler got up and came around to the other side of the table. “However, it’s time for feeding on Veronica so let’s your asses to the bathroom!”

School ended and Chandler left for her responsibilities at the Student Council. It made sense, after all, her mother was mayor of Sherwood. Of course, this left Veronica without a neutral mediator. Both Duke and McNamara had free reign to fight over Veronica. The human would have thought it was sweet, if they weren’t going to fall into physical violence.

“Could we please not, girls?” Veronica attempted to interjects only to be swept into McNamara’s arms. This resulted in a small blush from Veronica, and a direct leap of attack from Duke. The taller girls just held her leg out to keep the werewolf from approaching.

“Stop using your long legs as weapons!” Duke furiously yelled, as she attempted to bite through McNamara’s dress’ fabric.

“If your teeth are fair game, then my slender pale legs are too!” McNamara pursed her lips for a moment, before sticking her tongue out to further enrage Duke.

“Give me back my mate!” Duke wanted nothing more than to grab Veronica back. She could see the fear in her eyes, and she wanted nothing more than to hold on tight to her human and never let her go.

The two continued to fight and argue, even after they had left the school building. All of the yelling and the screaming made Veronica want to scream. And that’s exactly what she did.

“Quiet! You two are acting like animals!” Veronica began to say, not allowing them a word in between. “And from this moment forward, we are going to solve this little issue okay?” The two monsters silently nodded, and Veronica sighed a bit. “Alright, tonight all three of us are going to meet up at Peace Lake, okay?” Neither girl replied, until Veronica spoke again. “Okay?!”

“Yes ma’am!” Both monsters replied in unison. Even though they were the more outspoken girls, they took Veronica’s commands seriously.

“Now all of us are going to our own homes, and we’ll meet at the lake at 10PM.” Veronica didn’t say anything more, as she briskly walked off back home. McNamara and Duke looked at each other, and both exchanged a glare before heading off home.

Veronica looked out at the pond, which was barely visible before her vision. The darkness given by the New Moon made it hard to see, but her eyes already adjusted to it. She took in the few moments of silence, before the two other girls arrived.

In her head, she wondered how these events would go. In the time before she had arrived, she had spent some time thinking about her feelings for the two girls. Maybe this was a feeling only humans felt, and because she wasn’t raised by her own race, this was a feeling that she had to learn on her own about.

For about three hours, the black-haired girls scoured over several of her home’s human historical texts. Yes, they were written by monsters, but much of the information was accurately taken with the rise and fall of mankind. There was nothing more that Veronica wanted to know, than to actually get what these feelings were.

When the clock finally struck the hour, Veronica could hear the arguing from a little bit behind her. There they were, the two girls she had fallen for. At the very least, she gave props to them for not tearing each other apart. Veronica turned around to get a good look at them. Duke was wearing her usual formal wear, while McNamara was donned in her princely attire.

Again, Veronica could only sigh a breath of relief that McNamara hadn’t done anything with her sword. The arguing however, did not stop.

“I FOUND HER FIRST HEATHER FIND YOUR OWN CUTIE!”

“YES, BUT I DECLARED MY LOVE FOR HER BEFORE YOU DID!”

“I TOOK HER HOME AND SHE MET MY ENTIRE FAMILY! MY MOM!”

“TCH! WELL I PUT HER IN THE REGALEST CLOTHES IMAGINABLE! AND YOU DIDN’T SEE HOW BEAUTIFUL SHE WAS!”

“QUIET BOTH OF YOU!” Veronica shouted from the top of her lungs, resulting in the two monsters becoming quiet.

Silence loomed over the two monster girls, as their beloved stared out at the lake. Veronica turned around and looked at the two of them. Her eyes were not filled with anger, but rather with a tender love.

“Now I’ve done a lot of thinking, while you two have done a lot of fighting.” Veronica held out both of her hands. “One thing I couldn’t quite understand is why I have feelings for both of you. Since, you know, we’re usually only supposed to have one person in their life.”

“Yeah! One mate for life, that’s how it goes in werewolf culture!” Duke wanted to lunge forward into hugging Veronica, but she resisted from doing so. Veronica shook her head in disagreement.

“If there’s anything I’ve come to realize it’s that I don’t just have one hand.”

“What do you mean, Veronica?” McNamara began to inquire, stepping forward a bit. “I think that’s obvious that you have two!” Again, Veronica shook her head.

“Exactly! I have two hands!” The human ran forward and grabbed one hand from each girl. She then gave a smile to the two, causing them to flush extremely bad. “I have two hands, and that’s why I can go out with both of you. One hand for Heather, and the other for Heather. My feelings are the same for both of you, and you’re both wonderful to me. That’s why I’m gonna be with you two, and only you two.” She nuzzled their hands against her face.

“But how can you date both of us?!”

“Umm easy? I date both of you at the same time, and we’re all girlfriends together.” Veronica said rather simply, and gripped their hands tighter. “Just know that I love you both, and I think you two should learn to like each other too. We’re all in this together. Heather, I’ll still be your mate and Heather, you’ll still be my beautiful knight who saves me from the shadows.”

Despite their rivalry, both girls could only smile at each other as they looked down to their girlfriend. Veronica seemed quite satisfied with herself for having solved this. Polyamory wasn’t something that was often practiced in monster times, but Veronica came across the term in human history texts. The ability to be romantically involved with multiple people made her hard squirm in happiness.

“I guess if it means I still get to love you and dress you up…” McNamara began to say, her smile widening a bit.

“And I get to still drag you into the dirt to kiss you…” Duke also began to express, a flush growing on her face.

“Then I’m sure we can put aside our differences!” Both girls said, pulling Veronica into a large hug. For a moment, Veronica was taken aback but she accepted the hug as the three hugged in the dark, under the non-visible New Moon. “We love you, Veronica Sawyer!”

“And I love you two Heathers even more!” Veronica smiled brightly, and buried her face into the girls’ chests. It was a perfect night, and there couldn’t have been a happier ending.

_La~, La~, La~, La La La~, La~ La~ La~, La~, La~ La~, La~, La La La~_

Their moment of happiness only lasted about ten minutes, before it was broken up by the sudden song being sung. It was eerie, more than anything they had ever heard before. What was it?

“H-hey what the fuck is that?” Duke asked, looking around and only seeing the trees. Her vision was the most acclimated to night, but at the same time it was tough to see without the light of the moon shining down on them.

_La~, La~, La~, La La La~, La~ La~ La~, La~, La~ La~, La~, La La La~_

McNamara grabbed both girls tightly, as her eyes shifted in fear. Not even she, well-versed in the bestiary, could figure out what this song was. To her, it almost seemed like something straight out of hell. The tune of it seemed incredibly artificial, but fit the normal pitch of a sentient being. It would fit well in the uncanny valley of voices.

“I’m sure it’s nothing girls. I mean it could just be someone singing to themselves in the woods, right?” Veronica looked at the two girls, and McNamara could only grimace in response. The half-hearted smile of Veronica’s melted into a frown.

_La~, La~, La~, La La La~, La~ La~ La~, La~, La~ La~, La~, La La La~_

“Shit the bushes… They’re rattling about fifty yards ahead of us.” Duke’s ears twitched a bit as she pointed in front of them. Both Veronica and McNamara could feel the werewolf begin to shake. It was almost like an inherent fair, one built into all beings. That being a fear of the darkness, and that which lives within it. But without monsters living in the darkness, what could possibly be out there?

“The voice is getting closer.” McNamara pulled the two other girls back, and drew her sword from its sheath. Her breathing became more staggered, as Duke continued to count down how close the source of the noise was.

“Twenty yards… I don’t like this one fucking bit. Why don’t I like this? I’m not supposed to be afraid of anything!” Duke screeched under her breath, only to be soothed by Veronica.

“If it’s any solace, I’m scared to hell too.” McNamara’s hand shook, the sword visibly wobbling in her grip. Veronica remained silent, soothing the two monsters the best she could. The song continued to increase in volume. “We’re all built to be afraid of what lives in the dark… Humans feared the monsters that lurked in the shadows. So now we have to ask… What lives in the darkness, that makes monsters afraid?”

**_La~, La~, La~, La La La~, La~ La~ La~, La~, La~ La~, La~, La La La~_ **

“It’s here.”

The eyes of all three girls opened up incredibly wide, each of them showing the purest form of terror. Veronica couldn’t even move; her breathing was beginning to seize up as they looked ahead. None of them could do anything. There was not a soul that could even begin to describe this creature. But it kept on singing.

**_LA~, LA~, LA~, LA LA LA~, LA~ LA~ LA~, LA~, LA~ LA~, LA~, LA LA LA~_ **

**_LA~, LA~, LA~, LA LA LA~, LA~ LA~ LA~, LA~, LA~ LA~, LA~, LA LA LA~_ **

**_LA~, LA~, LA~, LA LA LA~, LA~ LA~ LA~, LA~, LA~ LA~, LA~, LA LA LA~_ **


	7. Peace Making

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A rumble begins.

The eyes were what made Veronica the most terrified. Those eyes were completely soulless, reflecting an almost inhumane shade of white. In the center of each eye was an incredibly tiny black pupil, with eyelids that closed diagonally. The nose remained the most vaguely human thing on it. The creature’s very presence emitted a stench so terrible, that even the most rotting corpse would have a scent most similar to the most beautifully aromatic flower.

Its shape was mostly humanoid, as if the template for this creature’s origins was that of a human female. An old and ratty black dress was the only thing preventing the werewolf from seeing what the torso looked like. Long scraggly black hair fell down its back and sides, nearly reaching its waist. On the hands, it lacked any sort of finger-like appendage, instead it had grotesquely long and active tentacles that reached the dirt. Duke could barely make it out, due to her terror, but she made note that they nearly looked sewn on.

There were no feet keeping it off of the ground, and instead there were two poorly sewn on hooves. Duke was unable to make out whether they belonged to simply a horse or a grand demon. One could not mistake those wings that were suddenly spreading from its back. Heavily stitched together from what seemed to be many races including: harpies, imps, demons, and griffins. But if there was anything that could outrank its eyes, it was the mouth.

It opened its grotesquely large mouth, which seemed too unnatural to be a normal occurrence. Razor sharp teeth lined its rotting black gums, and Duke could make out at least two more rows of the same sharpness behind the front. The three girls could only remain silent, as the creature slowly approached them. Having stopped its song, every few moments the monster would click its tongue and those horrifying eyes would dart all around.

McNamara theorized that the creature wasn’t blind, but the darkness prevented it from seeing perfectly. Rather, it would click its tongue to target its prey, or whatever it might be. No one could move, and then it struck. Almost like static on a television, it began to rush at them quicker than a werewolf could pounce on a warthog.

Those legs were wrong, the way they moved was too unnatural. But the face it made could have easily driven one to insanity. There were no words to describe the unearthly expression it had as it began its hunt on the three monsters. Using its tentacle fingers, the creature jumped up into the air and at the girls.

“Move now!” McNamara moved as quickly as she could, turning around in a flash and pushing the werewolf and human several feet away from her, before returning to face front. Her arm, no longer shaking, extended and she struck at the tentacles with her broadsword. As if she was striking steel, her sword made the worst noise it could as the creature landed several feet away from the vampire. The tentacles shook and moved erratically, as the creature began making guttural animalistic noises. “M-my sword… just bounced right off it…”

The creature made a screech that was spawned from the mouth of nightmares. Again, it began to run at McNamara, who dodged out of the way. With only a moment to rebound, the vampire struck forward at the creature’s back. This time, McNamara was hoping that the sword would embed itself in the monster. However, this was not to be as the sword simply made a small noise, before bouncing off.

The blonde rolled in front of the other two, while the monster turned around and began clicking again to find its foe. Veronica, after several moments out of it, finally returned to the world of the living.

“H-Heather, what the hell is that?” Veronica managed to get out, before falling silent again. Duke sat in front of her mate, forcefully summoning out her body’s inherent defenses that only came out during the full moon. While not able to fully morph into her lycanthropic form, she was able to gain some of the physical prowess and sharpened claws.

“I have no idea, Ronnie.” McNamara quickly swiped her sword in the air. “There’s no blood on my sword… That means it has to have armor underneath that dress.”

“I hate to break it to you, but that dress is form fitting.” Duke was breathing quite heavily now, as she tried to keep all her focus on building up her strength. “But what kind of fucking monster has skin able to reflect a steel blade?”

“There’s nothing in my family bestiary that’s even close to that.” McNamara put her body into a defensive stature, knowing that attacking might only make the monster even angrier. The primal noises it made were lost to time, and it was as if these three girls were the first ones to be hearing it since the dawn of living life. It began tapping its tentacles against the ground while the creature’s head began to turn completely upside down.

Both Duke and Veronica gagged as it turned its head all the way around. The next thing it did absolutely made all three girls piss in terror. As its head turned back to its normal orientation, it began shaking before letting out an inhuman cackle. McNamara began to shake worse than the other two girls. They had a chance if this thing was purely running on instinct.

“T-t-t-this thing…. This thing…!?! No, no… It’s… sentient.” McNamara began backing up a bit as the cackling became louder, until it stopped as if someone hit pause on a music player. It began moving its head like a curious dog, until it bolted forward at the girls again. Shaking her head, McNamara used her sword to defend against its onslaught of whipping tentacles.

Both Duke and Veronica was surprised at how physically able McNamara truly was. They were both hard pressed to admit that their usually quiet and femme vampire was a trained swordswoman. The whipping ceased, and the clicking once again started back up. At this point, McNamara was unsure what this thing’s movements truly were.

Duke got to her feet and unleashed her claws. Her eyes turned more animalistic and her teeth became much sharper. She gritted her sharp teeth, and looked to McNamara.

“I know this probably won’t work… But I’m gonna try and distract it, Heather. You try to strike at its head while I get up close and personal.” Duke began bending her legs a bit to leap, while the creature continued to click from its spot. Suddenly, the creature raised its arm toward its mouth and began to lick its tentacles. And to add to their horror memory book, the tongue looked rotten. It moved almost independent of the creature, waving back and forth like a snake as it cleaned its tentacles. McNamara, readying her sword, nodded to Duke.

“Whatever that thing is doing right now, I guarantee it has to do with my sword bouncing off of its appendages.” McNamara closed her eyes, and a small dark purple light began glowing in her sword’s blade. “I’ll charge up as much black magic as I can into my blade, but you need to keep safe and make sure those tentacles don’t hit you.”

“Why not? They’re just… Ohhh… I see now.” Duke nodded, looking forward at the tentacles. Almost invisible to the naked eye, were tons of small spines. Both girls would bet they were filled with some sort of venom or toxin. “Alrighty… On the count of three.” Duke bent her legs even more and her claws came out as much as they could, just as her canines became as forceful as that of an extinct dire wolf. “One. Two… THREE!”

Jumping forward, Duke jumped onto the creature’s torso. The monster began shaking like an earthquake was occurring, before shrieking incredibly loud. It was time to bolt, as Duke jumped off as quickly as she landed a couple feet away from it. From its position on the ground, the creature used its tentacles to push itself back onto its hooves.

McNamara panted, focusing as much magic as she could into her blade. As a vampire, she was able to utilize black magic, and one of her specialties was focusing power into her sword’s blade for a much stronger strike. Veronica, on the ground, was in and out of consciousness. McNamara guessed, as a human, Veronica was unable to fully grasp this monster’s form.

The vampire watched as Duke clashed with the creature. It was nothing more than a game of cat and mouse, with the creature playing the former role. The werewolf was only just able to dodge out of the way, with each whip of the tentacle only narrowly missing. Duke was forced to land on all fours, before headbutting the chest of the monster. It hurt like hell, it was like running head first into a brick wall.

Duke attempted to claw the monster, but it was to no affect as her sharpened nails were unable to even pierce the monster’s organic body armor. She looked up into its face, from so close up to it. The creature began piercing, with those horrifying tiny pupils, into Duke’s soul. The monster’s jaw began to unhinge, much like how a snake or thylacine might do when hunting their prey. For a moment, Duke turned back into a scared little puppy. Beginning to whine in fear, she ran for cover behind McNamara.

Shaking again, McNamara looked down at the poor werewolf, who could do nothing but tremble and whimper.

“Make it go away mommy… please make the bad thing go away…” Duke repeated those words over and over. It chilled McNamara to her very core, seeing how simply staring at it from that close range completely obliterated the rough and tough werewolf. McNamara gulped down her fear and heard a shimmering noise erupt from her blade.

“There it is!” McNamara launched forward with the speed of a bullet, only the purple light emitting from her blade appearing as she lunged at the monster. The sword cut through the monster’s tentacles like butter and sent the monster onto the ground. A smirk appeared on the swordwoman’s face, as several tentacles fell limp to the ground, now separated from its host. “I did it… I think?”

The monster, unmoving, lay still on the ground. Then it happened. Using the tentacles on its undamaged hand, the monster got back to its hooves. It clicked for a few moments to orientate itself toward McNamara. The mouth began to curl into a devilish Glasgow smile, before it began to emit its horrifying cackle. Raising up its damaged hand, McNamara was forced to watch as the tentacles began to regenerate from the stumps.

The sound of her sword hitting the dirt filled the air. She collapsed to her knees, tear of blood running down on her face. McNamara was defeated. Despite using her most powerful art, she was unable to cut down this ferocious creature. Its cackling subsided as it focused on fully regenerating its tentacles.

“T-this is it?” McNamara cocked her head toward Duke and Veronica and slowly began crawling toward the two. The werewolf girl was still whimpering like a terrified pup, while Veronica was unconscious still. Taking in their last moments, McNamara wrapped both girls up into a tight hug as the monster completed the regeneration of its organic fleshy whips. It whipped the ground, sending dirt and rocks all over the place. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you Ronnie… I’m sorry I was so mean to you, Heather. But… this is it for all of us.”

The clicking noise filled the air, as the creature began slowly moving forward as if to taunt the three girls. McNamara could only continue to weep, as the creature came back into view. It was licking its rotting lips with that horrifying parasitic tongue.

Fire erupted from the ground, lighting up the area in front of them. Suddenly, McNamara saw a figure appear in front of them. A fluttering black cloak and filled white skin appeared in front of her. Looking up, she saw short brown hair and a woman’s piercing blue eyes. The vampire could only stutter, as the woman bent down and picked up McNamara’s sword.

“Hmm… This will do for now.” The woman said, looking down to McNamara. “Remain right here, and only run on my signal. You will follow me and only me if you wish to survive.” She nodded obediently, as the woman turned back toward the creature, who was no longer clicking. The fire had lit the area so it could properly see. From its mouth, it began to foam with excitement as it leaped toward the woman.

Holding up her hand, the woman began uttering something under her breath as a light blue-white magic circle appeared on her hand. Suddenly a large ice wall erupted from the ground, causing the creature to collapse to the ground. Within a second, the wall collapsed, and the monster was shaking its head to recover.

McNamara’s sword was thrown into the air, and with athleticism only rivaled by vampires, the woman jumped up into the air and kicked the sword. As she did so, a bright white magic circle appeared at the top of her foot, just before making impact with the sword’s hilt. There was a blinding flash of light as the sword flew down right in front of the creature.

The blade, embedded in the ground, began to shine as magical chains erupted from it and chained the monster to the ground. It shrieked in pain, and began to convulse as it tried to escape. However, it was to no use. Landing on the ground, the woman panted and got McNamara to her feet.

“That was… elemental magic and then… holy magic?!” McNamara managed to ask, as the woman picked Duke up off the ground. “No way… You’re a magician. A real human magician!”

“That’s right. Quickly, grab the other girl and follow me. Those chains won’t hold forever. We need to be out of sight before it breaks free.” The woman said, holding Duke in a princess carry. McNamara quickly agreed and picked up Veronica in the same way, before the two began running as far away as they could from the struggling creature, ensnared within powerful magic.

“Not that I don’t appreciate you helping, but who are you?! And just what was that?!” McNamara asked, as the two ran as quickly as they could. The woman, similarly, was panting alongside the tiring vampire.

“We of my clan call that thing… The Peace Maker.” The woman said, using little bits of magic to light up the path in front of them. Her stark blue eyes stared at McNamara’s for a moment. “And my name is Belnades… Heather Belnades.”


	8. Belnades

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new Heather enters.

Duke, now asleep, was curled up in the corner with a blanket draped over her. Veronica, still unconscious, was resting in the cabin’s bedroom. In the front of the cabin, McNamara sat in front of the lit fireplace. Belnades had left over an hour ago, with the instruction to remain within the cabin. For whatever reason, the Peace Maker could not come within several yards of the wooden shack.

In her mind, McNamara could only replay the events from earlier. How easily the Peace Maker defeated her, a trained hunter. If it wasn’t for that magician saving them, there would have been no hope for their future. Ever since she was younger, McNamara was trained to fight and hunt monsters. Yes, she was a vampire, but her mother taught her about the truth of the world. That the monsters were just as terrible as humans. There may not have been wars every five minutes, but the total genocide of an intelligent species would have been even worse.

“My sword… Oh it’s probably gone forever now.” McNamara put her face into her hands, before letting out a long sigh. She reached down toward her sheathe, attempting to prove herself wrong, only to grab at nothing. For so long she had used that sword to cut down the evil spirits who plagued their town, and now it was probably in the hands of that monster.

The fact that both Veronica and Duke were now out of commission as a result of the fight broke McNamara’s heart. How could she lose in her first fight to protect Veronica? Maybe it would be better if she just left and never returned. She had failed, and failure often meant exile.

Before she could do any more moping, the door to the cabin swung open. Belnades had returned with what appeared to be some sort of person. The woman was shorter than the magician, and wore a white coat and black suit underneath it. Her silver hair was tied up with a ribbon and her face was hidden by a gas mask. She looked at McNamara for a moment before turning her head and continuing toward the back of the cabin. The human magician didn’t follow, and headed toward the small kitchenette.

“Well who exactly is she?” McNamara asked, watching the white coated woman slowly make her way into Veronica’s room. There was something off about her, something that sent a chill down McNamara’s back.

“Her name is Sharice. She’s… a doctor. Well even then, she’s a coroner for human villages. She travels around from place to place, assisting in the burial of their dead and reasoning their causes of death.” Belnades made a cup of tea and sat down opposite of McNamara. She removed a blood bag from her coat and offered it to McNamara, who reluctantly took it and began to drink from it.

“If she’s that… Well why did you bring her here? Shouldn’t you find an actual doctor?” McNamara asked, sucking down some of the blood. It wasn’t the best tasting, but it was refreshing her after the long night.

“As if there was a capable doctor available at the moment. Dr. Sharice may be a coroner, but she still can help take care of that Veronica Sawyer.” Belnades looked into the fire, which shimmered to light up some of the room.

“So… who exactly are you, Miss Belnades?” McNamara wiped her mouth of some of the blood and looked to the human magician. She was definitely beautiful, but also had the aura of a deadly assassin who could easily take out anything in her way.

“Ever so the polite one. I like when vampires are raised correctly. As I told you earlier, my name is Heather Belnades. I’m a magician from the House of Belnades, a family of wise elders who used to preach peace and the conservation in knowledge before the fall.” The woman began to explain to McNamara, causing the vampire’s eyes to twinkle a little. She loved hearing about old human history, since it had always been a part of her training to hear about them.

“I’m surprised you’re alive at all! And even more that you came to our rescue. How did you know we were out there?” McNamara tilted her head even more and began to suckle down more blood in anticipation.

“To be quite honest, I didn’t know you were out there until I sensed black magic being used. Usually that means some poor fool got captured by the Peace Maker. Fortunately, I managed to save you lot before it managed to kill you.” Belnades tapped her foot against the ground and sighed a bit, her eyes seemed to be immensely tired.

“The Peace Maker… What is that thing exactly? How come I wasn’t able to even able to put a dent in it? And when my blade cut through its tentacles, they just regenerated!” McNamara shuddered at the thought of that creature’s unworldly movements.

“It… is quite a long and complicated story. One I cannot tell you in full at the moment. However, I will tell you that it is a creature that only holds malice toward any living being.  The Peace Maker stalks the woods in the night, hoping to ensnare whatever innocent it can. There is no way to kill it, only ways to stun it until the sun rises up.” The human closed her eyes and finished her tea. “It truly is what all creatures in this world should fear.

Rising up from her seat, Belnades took the tea cup and empty blood bag to clean them. It seemed she had a nice little thing going in this place. She used magic to power her generator to power the little amount of electricity she used. The door to the room that contained Veronica and Duke opened, and the gas-mask wearing doctor came out.

“Sharice, how is the girl? Will she be fine?” Belnades asked, coming forward to the doctor. The doctor waved her hand a bit and exhaled.

“Probably. Looks like she just passed out from shock, but I’ve dealt with that the best I could. Have any alcohol?” The pale woman sat down at the wooden kitchen table, before huffing something that was hidden within the mask.

“Yes, and what about the werewolf? She kept muttering about her mother.” Belnades opened up the small refrigeration unit and pulled out a rather small bottle of rum.

“Not looking good at the moment. But who could blame her? I gotta give it to her, she has some major guts going one-on-one with that fucking thing with only her claws. But yeah, our little friend in the night stared right into the little wolf’s eyes.” Sharice looked over to McNamara and glared through the darkened glass of her mask.

“Is that bad, Doctor?” Mac gulped a bit and tried not to look directly into those creepy little eyes.

“Well, kid, it’s definitely not good. It’s like how a medusa or a cockatrice petrifies with simply a glare to you. The Peace Maker does a similar thing, but strikes terror into the heart of whoever sees directly into its eyes. Usually you can’t because of how tiny the pupils are, but your little wolf friend was right in front of her. She will recover, but it will take some time and a little therapy.”  Sharice took the bottle of rum, not even drinking it, but rather swirling it around in its glass and watching it.

“Who the hell is going to give Heather therapy?” McNamara asked in all seriousness, however the doctor tried to hold back a laugh.

“Pfft. You’re all named Heather. Heather McNamara, Heather Duke, and Heather Belnades. I bet if you were all in high school you’d all form a group called the Heathers.” The coroner looked over to the magician, who could only role her eyes and stifle her red blushing

“Be quiet Sharice! The fact that all of our names are the same means nothing!”

“Why Bel, it’s funny. Do you not like the fact that you just happen to share the same name? Oh, that’s so adorable.” Sharice said all of this in an entirely serious and professional voice, only further infuriating the magician. The woman then looked back toward McNamara and stared. “Do not fret, they will be able to leave by sunrise.”

McNamara could only nod and sigh. Belnades, sat back down in her chair next to the fireplace, and the two simply stared into it. With her white lab coat, Sharice rose from her chair and headed toward the door.

“Where are you heading off to, with the Peace Maker still foraging?” Belnades turned her attention to the doctor. She stared back at the mage with an intimidating gaze that pierced through her own gas-mask.

“Off to what remains of the castle. I believe there may be records that will assist us further now that she has arrived.” Sharice’s voice was more and low and depressed suddenly. If she wasn’t wearing a mask to conceal her identity, she would have taken a long drink of that rum.

“Can you really get there without my help?” Belnades inquired, nearly getting up from her seat to further lecture the visitor.

“Perhaps I can, perhaps not. Currently, I have a 60% survival rate if I leave now. The sun will have risen by the time I arrive there. Then I will spend whatever sunlit hours I have collecting the needed works, before returning here.” She became silent for a moment, putting her finger up to her mask. “Plus, our bed is being taken up at the moment. I would rather do something useful with my time. I have the pistol, so do not worry. I will signal for you if things become awry.”

Belnades thought for a moment, before exhaling in frustration. The vampire could tell that she was definitely annoyed.

“Fine. Just be safe, alright?”

“Very well. I will arrive back here tomorrow night. My affections to you.” Sharice bowed, before leaving back into the night. McNamara sat there in complete confusion.

“What the hell did that last thing mean?” McNamara cocked her head, but Belnades simply shrugged.

“It’s her way of saying ‘I love you.’” Belnades rose her hand and levitated the bottle of rum over to her. Opening the bottle, she took a small drink of it. “That woman has always had a one-track mind, ever since I met her when we were younger.”

“I see…” McNamara tapped her fingers together in awkwardness, before looking to the woman again. “Anyways, what’s this castle she’s heading to, and why is it so dangerous to go to?”

Belnades remained silent as she drank her alcohol, her eyes closed in mindfulness. She debated in her mind for a few moments, before opening her eyes and staring at McNamara.

“Dr. Sharice has headed to the most harrowing place in the entire state, hell you might as well say on this side of Dracula’s Castle.” Without much thought, she took another swig of her rum to drain the pain away.

“What could be more harrowing than the forest itself? And enough to attempt to go to it just to recover some papers?” McNamara crossed her legs and exhaled. Her eyes kept going back to the fireplace.

“Only one place on Earth contains any information on the Peace Maker.” There was a bout of silence as the mage placed the bottle of rum down. Her demeanor lacked any sense of emotion other than pure disgust.

“And that place would be…?” McNamara leaned forward a bit, her eyebrows becoming furrowed.

“That place would be **_Castle Frankenstein_**.”


	9. Castle Frankenstein

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Castle Frankenstein.

The door to Castle Frankenstein swung open, with the gas-masked doctor slowly walking in. In all the years since she had last stepped foot in this place, not much had changed except for the spiders and other wildlife that have made their home in the ruins of her former home. The foyer was about as normal as one could tell. A fanciful welcoming room, with stairs leading up to another floor.

High above, the sun had begun rising. Sharice could use this time to look around her father’s old documents and possibly find a way to combat the Peace Maker. The woman exhaled a sigh of sadness and looked forward to the first hall on the first floor, the one that led to where her treasure lied.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. Looks like a small pitiful human has come to this old junkyard. I wonder what such a weak little creature could be doing here?” A voice came from the second floor, causing the doctor to look up. Under the mask, she rolled her eyes a bit.

“Ahhh… It seems my father’s old estate is being scavenged by quite the terrifying looking vampire.” Sharice’s tone was almost monotone and sarcastic. Nothing really scared her, except the monster roaming around in the woods.

“I am not terrifying! I am stunning! The most stunning vampire in this entire world!” The vampire ran a hand through her beautifully blonde hair. It was none other than Heather Chandler, queen of Westerberg High School. Her brows were furrowed and she looked just about ready to kick someone’s head in.

“Quite the amount of hubris you have there, miss vampire. What do I owe you the pleasure of this visit to my father’s abode?” Sharice asked, walking forward a bit, and raising her hands in question. She made it her duty to treat all trespassers as sarcastically as possible.

“Looking for my dumbass friends, that’s what. They said they were going out into the forest, and maybe I got a little worried. Those three couldn’t tell their eyes from their asses, so I must do what I can to keep them from getting lost in the woods.” Chandler was cracking her knuckles and getting impatient. Usually she would just move on to find her idiots, but it wasn’t every day that a vampire stumbled upon a perfectly healthy human.

“This territory still belongs to the Frankenstein estate, I would very much prefer you get out of my home before I bring your mother your head on a stake.” There was a piece of old paper lying on a rotting wooden table, which Sharice walked over to. Picking it up she acted as if it were a binding legal document.

“Hmph. Big words coming from quite the small woman. I may be younger than you, good doctor, but I’m also the biggest strongest bitch around. You really think you can take me?” Chandler smirked a bit and gritted her teeth. It had been quite some time since she got in a skirmish with someone, and this might be the very correct way to show her dominance as the queen.

“It’s quite the conundrum, I must say. For you see, you are technically correct. As a human, I have no leverage on a vampire. For even now, you are protected from the rising sun’s rays…” The large hole in the ceiling revealed a rising sun, with the darkness now being pierced away by the light’s swords.

“Ugh, I don’t like that tone of voice.” Chandler was beginning to grit her teeth even more, and Sharice was beginning to smirk underneath her mask.

“Yes, for you can only deduce any sort of thought process through the sounds I create. My protective mask not only conceals my identity to most, but also prevents my opponents from looking at my facial expressions. The truest form of a poker face.” Throwing the paper on the floor, she walked with her arms exposed in a grandeur fashion. She made sure to point to her mask as she spoke, before ending with a courteous bow.

“I really hate how you talk, as if a human could possibly be better than a vampire.” The vampire hated the fact this woman was daring to speak down to her like some sort of child or lower being, which Chandler knew was false. After all, vampires were the highest form of being.

“I am the first-born child of Doctor Victor Frankenstein, and it seems that you forget exactly what kind of person he was!” Sharice began backing away toward the entrance to the castle, driving Chandler’s anger.

“That crazy old loon was just another person to put on the list to human extinction, that’s what he was. And now that I’ve found his daughter, maybe I can put her to effective use with her blood.” Chandler smiled showing her sharpened canines, ready to bite and drink from the human.

“Right you may be, but my father was a genius. An expert in human experimentation! And right now, we’re right in the foyer of my childhood home. So, get ready for the fight of your life little vampire. I’ve come here on important business, so I would appreciate leaving my father’s home!” Sharice placed her hand into the inside pocket of her lab coat.

“Bring it on sister, I’d like to see what a shrimp like you can do! I’m the purest blooded vampire you’ll ever meet!” Chandler jumped to the ground, as two large bat-like wings erupted from her back. Her pointed ears became more jagged and her eyes glowed a terrifying blood red. She made a few faux bites at her enemy, while clanging her now sharpened claws against one of the long abandoned wooden tables.

“Very well, vampire, prepare to witness the mighty power of the Frankenstein family.” Sharice rolled back a bit and withdrew a sharpened blade from her lab coat. It was similar to the blade that McNamara wielded, with the only difference being the emblem embedded within the hilt.

“What a strange item for a doctor to be holding!” Chandler’s wings began beating and she propelled herself toward the doctor. Jumping up, and out of the way, Sharice struck down at Chandler. The sword sheared a bit through the back of her clothing and ripping apart a bit at her back.

“Gah! A sword shouldn’t be able to do that to me…!” Chandler grabbed at her back, as her wings spasmed a bit from the strike.

“Normally yes, but a sword made of silver and forged in the blood of angels can.” Sharice landed on the ground where Chandler had once been standing. She took the time to wipe the blade clean, if only to further infuriate the vampire.

Growling loudly, the vampire’s wings once again beat and the girl took flight. During these moments, Sharice took as much time as she could to lead the vampire toward the hall. Flying toward the human, Chandler reached out with her monstrous hands.

Sharice, expertly dodging back out of the way, landed toward one of the open doors to the underground. Underneath her mask she was smiling like a child who had just gotten praised.

“Come along little bat! Follow mommy~!” The doctor kicked open the door and quickly found herself descending stairs. Despite being unused for several years, the oil covered torches began lighting as she headed down to the dungeon, or more importantly, her father’s lab.

Quickly, the woman descended down the spiral staircase to her father’s laboratory, a place of scientific mystery and horror. Taking one of the torches, she threw it back to try and impede the vampire’s descent. Of course, Chandler was moving slower since she could not fly in such a confined area.

Doctor Frankenstein’s old lab looked better than the upstairs. The place was mostly overrun with dust and cobwebs. The white-haired woman looked around and headed toward an old cabinet. Chandler finally arrived and cracked her neck.

“Finally, you’re cornered, dumb bitch! There’s no escape this time. Now just do the world a favor and let me feed on all that delicious blood running through your body.” Chandler licked her lips as she approached the human.

Sharice held out her hand in a stopping motion. Then she smiled, holding a small canister in her hand.

“Hmm, what’s that thing?”

“Well you see, being the daughter of such a brilliant scientist merits some benefits. For this mask, I wear serves many contrasting functions besides simply protecting my face. No, no, no this mask is much more than that.” Sharice unlatched the front of her mask, before inserting the canister into the mask’s beak and closing it again. “Once upon a time, when human still ruled the planet, almost all of them were wiped out by what we call The Black Death, a form of the disease more commonly known as the bubonic plague.”

“Stop lecturing and fight me you weak bitch!” Chandler yelled and began come forward again.

“When humanity eventually fell, not every human civilization collapsed. Small cities would often become infected by the bubonic plague, and special doctors arose to treat them using this type of mask.” Sharice gently stroked the beak of her mask. “They would place incense into their beaks to block out the smell of the mass death. I use this similarly, but for a different purpose… To inhale chemicals my father created to boost my physical prowess.”

Chandler had enough of this woman’s rambling and leaped and tackled the doctor to the ground. She was panting a bit, as she licked her lips. The scent of human was always going to be the most tasteful. Her mother told her much about human blood, and Chandler had never gotten to taste it until now. The vampire planned to drink as much as she could.

The body of the doctor shook a bit, before violently flailing without charge. Her arms easily tossed Chandler off of her, and the doctor’s body twitched as it rose from the ground.  The woman no longer had anything to stay, instead cackling much like the Peace Maker and running toward Chandler in a similar fashion.

As a result, the vampire didn’t have much precaution as the human came stumbling into her. Sharice grabbed Chandler by the waist and threw her forward into the wall, the force of her being causing the wall to break at the throw. Hopping forward, Sharice peaked into the wall and scuttled on top of Chandler.

For a single moment, Chandler looked into the eyes of fear itself. And fear looked back. Letting out a horrifying cackle, Sharice took out her blade and began poking it into Chandler’s chest.

“Wowser! If this was made of wood you’d already be dead!” Sharice laughed cruelly, just as she wiped the blade clean of dust and dirt. “But it’s so icky and dark down here, how about I take my new best friend… OUTSIDE!”

There was no recourse, as Chandler was picked up and Sharice dragged her upstairs toward the foyer. The doctor threw Chandler into the air, before following through with a kick that sent Chandler tumbling through the wall causing her to land in the grass.

Squirming outside in a non-human stance, the woman held her sword and tossed it in the air like a toy.

“Now I’m gonna stab a stick through your heart until you’re dust! Hee hee! It’s gonna be so fun wait until mommy sees you!”

“Ugh… you… you are completely out of your mind!” Chandler let out a screech, piercing the ears of the monstrous woman. Sharice dropped her sword, just as she placed her hands on her ears before collapsing to the ground.

The human, now in a state of stupor, just mumbled to herself as she recklessly flailed on the ground. Spitting on the dirt, Chandler approached her. Panting a bit, she bent down and picked the flailing body off the ground by the neck.

“You know, you made quite the fight. But in the end, humanity lost, just like it always does.” Chandler smirked, as Sharice gave no reply, and began licking her lips. Opening her mouth, and leaning down toward Sharice’s neck, she bit in. The anticoagulant went into the vein, to prevent clotting, and Chandler began to taste that ever so familiar taste. Then she stopped for a moment. Why did it taste so familiar? She had never tasted human blood, but this tasted so familiar. Like something she drank every day.

Wanting to shrug it off, she began to drink again, only to be stopped by sudden bolt of electricity running through her body. The vampire dropped the doctor onto the ground, as she looked at who would dare attack her. With two magic circles in her hands, Belnades descended and shocked Chandler again sending her onto the ground.

Moving like the wind, Belnades kicked Chandler away from Sharice. Looking down, Belnades checked the pulse of the woman. She was still alive, but continued to bleed from the wound on her neck. Sighing in relief, she began casting a small healing spell to help heal the wound.

_“I’ll make up for my failure by helping Miss Belnades out!”_

“Shh it’s okay honey, you’re okay.” Belnades whispered down into Sharice’s ear, as the woman stirred. The magician began taking off Sharice’s mask and took out the incense, which she tossed away. The doctor’s face was pale and beautifully soft. Only for a large amount of stitching to appear connecting her jaw to the rest of her head.

_“But why did she have to use her magic to boost herself ahead? Totally unfair.”_

Sharice babbled incoherently as she slowly raised her body up. The mage smiled and kissed the doctor. There was more incoherence as the injured woman began digging her face into Belnades’ chest.

_“I hope I’m not too late to help!”_

Chandler angrily was about to strike down Belnades from the back. How dare some human show her up with simple magic tricks. It infuriated her to her core as she raised her hand to strike down.

“Heather…?”

Chandler turned around, and her anger faded away in a moment. There was no mistaking that blonde flowing hair or that beautifully symmetrical face. But why was she here…? And why was she dressed like that?

The two vampires stared at each other, and they truly almost did not recognize each other. Chandler, in the beast form of the most powerful vampires, and McNamara, dressed in regal clothing befitting the highest class of hunter. Sharice could only bury her face further into Belnades’ chest as the two childhood friends stared at each other in silence.

“… Heather?”


	10. Bloodlines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richter Belmont does battle with Count Dracula.

_JOURNEY BACK TO 1792_

_And the Transylvanian countryside of Romania_

A whip surged through the sky whipping a slaughter of monsters, causing them to immediately crumble into dust. The man was as fast as lightning, with no creature of the night standing in his way. Each strike of his weapon was to be feared, for the night held nothing toward him.

The bridge swayed left and right as the man dashed through it. Bats and other terrible winged creatures flew at him with a ferocity that rivaled that of a lion hunting its prey. However, they were no challenge for the vampire hunter, who showed great skill in all he could do.

At the end of the bridge, he was confronted by a skeleton undead armed with a scythe. It was a member of Dracula’s entourage, Death. Of course, not even Death could hold a bar to the greatest vampire hunter of the age. A swing of the scythe missed, as the man jumped into the air and struck down the undead with a blessed cross.

The floating skeleton sent down a rain of spiked weaponry, and the man dodged all of it with ease. Death appeared behind him, ready to strike him down, when a pair of doves flew at Death with a vicious speed. The servant of Dracula collapsed to the ground, dropping his scythe.

It was none other than a young blonde girl, who could only be the age of 12. The doves returned to her and floated around her hand. Her blonde hair was held back by a beautiful blue ribbon, and she was adorned in a beautiful pink dress. All of it created a false image, for she was truly a terrifying vampire huntress.

The older man nodded to her and left her to deal with Death, as he slid out of the room and slammed the door shut. As quickly as he could, he made his way up the stairs of the broken hallway that led to Dracula’s throne room. In the distance, the full moon shone quite brightly and the sound of Dracula’s clocktower could be heard in the night.

Only a single hall remained as the man ran as fast as he could toward the throne room. His blue clothing swayed in the wind, covered in the blood of the monsters he had slain. The white headband on his head was surprisingly clean despite the amount of blood on his shirt and pants. His belt was lined with an assortment of weaponry: holy water, daggers, crosses, and an enchanted pocket watch.

Vlad “Dracula” Tepes sat upon his throne, drinking from a goblet filled with human blood. This was it, the decisive battle between humanity and the monsters. Almost three hundred years ago, his forefather failed to defeat Dracula, which led to most of humanity falling. Villages and cities no longer consisted of humans, but the creatures of the night. Those who had been persecuted for centuries by humanity.

The man’s name… was Richter, Richter Belmont. Over three centuries had passed since Trevor Belmont was slain by the demon king, and now Richter was here to settle the family score. The vampire’s eyes looked over to Richter, causing the former to snarl in annoyance. Richter, with the Vampire Killer in hand, took a fighting stance.

“Die you monster! You don’t belong in this world!” Richter shouted, his eyes furrowing in anger. From kidnapping his beloved Annette for blood, to the near destruction of humanity, Richter could not forgive this demon. Dracula seemed annoyed and simply swirled the blood in his goblet.

“I was content to remain as I was, you know. To live as a man, and travel as one.” Dracula mumbled, his eyes drifting a bit away from Richter. “But you humans decided to take the only thing that had worth to me. You killed her in a public affair for simply advancing to save such pitiful things.”

“That was over three hundred years ago! Yet you continue to steal the souls of humanity and eliminate them. Soon there will be none of us left!” Richter countered as Dracula got up and walked down to the floor to look at Richter.

“I don’t even need to take your scent, I can tell by the look in your eye.” Dracula threw his goblet to the ground causing the glass to shatter. “You are a Belmont, the same house that corrupted and turned my very own son against me.”

“For the betterment of mankind! You cannot honestly believe this world can continue on without humanity!”

“Hmph, humanity is nothing! Nothing more than a herd of sheep being herded by your so-called religion! Sheep headed for the slaughter with no thought at all other than to believe in your superstitions!” Dracula anger boiled within him, simply as he stared at Richter. The Belmont gripped his whip and pulled on it, creating tension within the blessed leather.

“I do not believe in the superstition of my ancestors. Rather, I stand by the origin of human morality! Humans and monsters could live in peace if we allowed it to occur. A peace maker between our two races.” Richter closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Allow peace to come and return to me my beloved, or I will do what my ancestor failed.”

“As I thought, humans continue to be self-serving and only think of themselves.” Dracula whipped out his hand, as fire magic began to collect in it. “Now enough talk, have at you!”

Several quick balls of fire flew from Dracula’s finger tips directly to the Belmont. Richter rolled to the ground and whipped the fireballs, causing them to vanish. There was no more room for negotiation. He had to defeat Dracula, and fast.

In a flash, the vampire teleported himself to the other side of the throne room. Turning one-hundred and eighty degrees, Richter threw one of his crosses at Dracula. Upon contact with his face, Dracula could feel the burning of it. Such items had to have been blessed with white magic to counter his own dark powers. Holding out his arms, Dracula charged two large orbs of black-purple energy and launched it forward.

Getting to the floor, Richter narrowly slid out of the way before landing an uppercut to Dracula’s jaw. Right now, he was still filled with energy, and the more he fought with the vampire, the more he could tell Dracula was using more of his energy reserves.

Unbottling one of the glasses of holy water, Richter got near his foe and tossed it into his face. The vampire screamed in pain, as Richter smirked and slid back toward the door. Slowly, but surely, Dracula rose to his feet. He was panting heavily, having been put on the defensive by the human. He laughed a bit. This Belmont was just as powerful as his predecessor, and this gave somewhat of a thrill to Dracula. For the simple fact that Dracula had to enter his monstrous demon form.

Soon enough Dracula erupted in flames into a much bigger hell beast. He roared as loudly as possible, before beginning to fire large balls of fire at Richter. Once again, Richter began to hit the fireballs out of his way with the Vampire Killer, but was unable to get close. The amount of magic that Dracula dispensed was unreal, and he could feel himself tiring out. Then he collapsed to the ground under Dracula’s heel.

The door to Dracula’s throne opened up and the young girl ran forward toward Richter. She pressed her hands together in prayer.

“No, Richter! I’ll give you my strength!”

In a flash, Richter threw the vampire killer toward her before getting to his feet. He rammed an uppercut into the demon’s head, causing it to fall back. Richter was breathing heavily, and looked back at the girl.

“Maria, quickly you must rescue my beloved and the child she carries.” Richter clenched his fists tightly. “I will do all I can to defeat Dracula, but I likely will fall here. Please save Anette! As fast as you can. Do not use up your power to save me, because either way I will must win!”

“Richter… Very well. Promise me we will meet again!” Maria ran past the vampire and through the chamber door behind his throne.

“A Belmont always keeps up on their promises!” Richter screamed and released the Belmont clan’s most powerful magic, an art that would keep Dracula at bay for the time being. Dracula roared and Richter leaped at him. Things faded into black and white.

* * *

“What the fuck does all this mean!? Why are you with humans, and why are you keeping me from ripping them to shreds Heather?!” Chandler was yelling loudly at the yellow princely Heather. McNamara winced a bit from the loudness, and she hoped that the increased volume would not wake Veronica.

“These people saved our lives last night, so I would appreciate it if you didn’t scream at them.” McNamara waved her hand to the closed back room, and stressed her point. Without Sharice to look at Veronica and Duke, and Belnades simply saving their lives, it was a fact that Heather Chandler would have been ruling the school alone.

“They’re humans, Heather! A powerful and deranged one! You should have been slaughtering them the moment you saw them! And what’s with that stupid outfit? Where’s your dress?” Chandler rose up from her seat and threw her hands up, before placing them on her hips. Her eyes sent daggers into McNamara, but her vampire friend simply deflected them the best she could.

“I love my dress, it lets me be frilly, but it’s not the only thing I own.” McNamara shrugged and smiled a bit. In her dress, she could be the beautiful girl who adored the moon and nature, while in her princely attire she could be the perfect warrior to punish evildoers.

“Ugh, it’s just so disgusting to see you and Heather fraternizing with humans! Our natural enemy that we’re supposed to feed on!” Chandler pointed to Duke, who was laying down on the floor next to McNamara’s chair. The werewolf had finally awoken, but she looked rather scared.

“Could you maybe not yell… please? It’s loud and that hurts.” Chandler put her hands on her ears, as the loud noises were giving her sensory overload. She wanted to curl up the more Chandler yelled.

“Oh, stop being such a pussy, Heather! What’s wrong, does little baby shemale not like the noise?!” Chandler purposely made herself louder, causing the werewolf to whimper out in pain. The psychological attack of the Peace Maker had shattered most of her emotional and mental barriers, leaving her in a very vulnerable state.

“Stop being such a fucking bitch Heather! Don’t take your anger out on Heather, when all she was trying to do was tell you to turn it down.”

“Not my fault she can’t all of a sudden take a little yelling.” Chandler shrugged off her being terrible, and sat back in her seat. She rolled her eyes while McNamara soothed Duke like a child.

“There, there… Shhh shhhh.” McNamara rubbed the back of Duke’s ears to calm the poor werewolf. Yes, she was better than she was after last night, but she was still emotionally sensitive. Belnades had instructed McNamara to treat the wolf with calmness and love. Despite the fact that McNamara was weary of being polyamorous, she had been struck with the fact that Duke was still her friend.

“She’s nearly an adult, do you really need to be treating her like some sort of baby?” Chandler rolled her eyes, feeling very unwelcome in the human’s cottage where she could die any moment. Duke’s ears pulled back and she backed away. McNamara frowned and glared at Chandler as she picked Duke up of the floor and put her on her lap.

“It’ll be okay Heather; the mean monster is gone now. And Chandler will shut the hell up about you being nervous.” McNamara kissed the back of Duke’s head, and the werewolf started calming down. Belnades returned from the back room where Veronica now rested with Sharice.

“You’re doing an excellent job Miss McNamara. Keeping the victim calm and relaxed helps them from slipping back into a childlike state.” Belnades went to the kitchenette and cut herself a slice of bread and withdrew an apple to eat for her breakfast. Chandler glared at both of them and gritted her teeth. “You’re already in the making of a well experience apprentice.”

“T-thank you ma’am!” McNamara said, turning her head to look at Belnades. The vampire wanted to learn more magic so that the incident with the Peace Maker would not happen again. Surprisingly, the human had replied with a yes. For Heather Belnades could tell the alignment in one’s heart, and McNamara was not a cruel or evil soul. However, the opposite could be said for Chandler, who was disgusted with the two.

“Ugh, since when are you so buddy buddy with a fucking human you just met?!” Chandler hissed at McNamara, who was simply petting Duke’s head. They were quite content with each other.

“She’s a magician, Heather. The only magician in this part of the country. After last night, I realized that I’m not as good as I thought I was.”  McNamara replied back, but only drew more ire from Chandler, who had begun to get impatient. She just wanted to snap everyone’s necks and leave.

“As good as you were? You’re making no fucking sense anymore, Heather. And I’ve known you my whole life.” Chandler’s brows furrowed and she had to hold herself from attacking.

“At magic and swordplay. I’m not as good as I thought I was if the Peace Maker shows up again.” McNamara could only close her eyes and think back to how easily she was defeated and how much power it took to simply cut off tentacles.

“You’ll get better with time, Heather. Your swordplay is quite excellent, but you’ll need to perfect your magic if you’re going to stand a chance if you encounter it again.” Belnades brewed herself some tea, impressing McNamara but drawing a scowl from Chandler.

“W-w-why would we want to see it again? T-that thing is t-the worst thing in the entire universe.” Duke was repeatedly soothed by McNamara, who kissed the back of her head again.

“The Peace Maker is a menace, Miss Duke. It’s just been Sharice and I fighting it, and while we’re able to make it run the other way, we can’t corner it to finish it. The files I took from the castle should be able to help us pin her.” The witch finished her brew, and began to drink her herbal tea. She exhaled in happiness. “So good~.”

Chandler stood up from her chair and ran at Belnades. She had become tired of this inane talk and wanted to sink her fangs into that delicious looking neck. The magician opened up a single eye and Chandler froze. Even McNamara was surprised at how fast it all happened.

“Everything burns…! What the fuck did you do to me you bitch whore?!” Chandler felt pain in every region of her body as she struggled.

“… Simple. I rejected you from my house. Now stop squirming.” The human didn’t look happy as she sipped her tea. McNamara and Duke remained silent, and the former simply kissed the werewolf’s head again and hugged her tight.

“You did what…?!” Chandler yelled, continuing to move and cause herself pain.

“I revoked your invitation to my home. You will remain frozen and in pain until I allow you to move again. It’s a simple trick to protect our home from vampires, creature that cannot enter a human home unless they have an invitation.” Belnades finished her tea and got up to look at the vampire. “Now if you promise to behave I will re-extend my invitation to you, but only on the condition that you do. Attacking a human in their own home is well… quite rude if I must say.”

Chandler simply growled like an anime, but began nodding. Suddenly, she fell forward but was caught by Belnades.

“Good girl, nice to see you’re at least well enough to listen to my advice.”

“Shitty advice, I gotta say. You’re a dirty human living in a dirty old shack.” Chandler looked at Belnades, and the mage gave her a dirty look.

“I’ll have you know my mother built this house with her own hands. And then grandfather burned it down, so she had to build it again.” Belnades crossed her arms and glared, even sending a shiver down Chandler’s spine. “Anyways, I will check on the Sawyer girl.”

“VERONICA?! You mean she’s here too?” Chandler hissed and looked back as the door opened. Speak of the devil, Veronica staggered out of the bedroom and looked at the scene in front of her. She seemed incredibly confused as she looked around at everyone.

“Did I miss something?"


	11. The Ghoul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jason Dean appears.

Two pairs of footsteps could be heard stepping against the rocky ground. The only source of light came from two lanterns, being held by two shadowy individuals. One was a gill-man, dressed in a special suit that allowed him to breathe out of the water. It was rather convenient for a person with interests that often took him to the land. The second was a young ghoul, dressed entirely in black and grey. Who else could it be than Jason Dean.

The two came to a stop within the tunnel system they were in. The gill-man flashed his lantern forward, before his mouth went agape. Before them laid a rather large bronze looking bell, stuck within the rocks of the caverns.

“Well what is this thing exactly?” JD turned his head to the antiquarian, who began to approach the large bronze object. Slowly, the gill-man touched it and shuddered at the touch. “What’s wrong with it?”

“Nothing, my boy… It’s cold, freezing to the touch. I can feel it through my water suit.” The gill-man put his two webbed hands onto the metal once again. Just as he did previously, the monster began to shudder at the cold. “Just as I expected.”

“What did you expect? Is this the thing you said was really important?” JD squinted a bit and shone his lantern onto the large object. It was incredibly old, yet despite its age, looked quite well off.

“Yes, my boy! This most definitely is. During humanity’s end time of ruling the planet, they created these powerful magical items.” The gill-man seemed to be becoming excited as he looked over all the nooks and crannies of the item.

“It is pretty big, but I’ve seen tons of human artifacts. This definitely doesn’t look like any I’ve seen before.” JD just rolled his eyes a bit.

“Of course, you wouldn’t. Because in some places these are regularly kept by the highest orders in the world. Even Lord Dracula has one in his castle.” The gill-man turned to JD, and forced him to take a closer look at the art, annoying JD greatly.

“But what is it? What is so amazing that even Dracula has to have one in his possession?”

“Humans… More importantly the Fates devised these bells. For you see, the Fates were the most powerful seers among the human race, and they foresaw the fall of humanity to the many races that hid.” The gill-man began to explain as he took his hands off of the bronze. JD laid back against the rock wall, and listened intently. “We call them Angel’s Bells. It is impossible for them to ring, except when humanity’s fate is nearing extinction.”

“Extinction?” JD walked forward and felt the bell, before quickly pulling his hand away. The old gill-man spoke the truth about how cold it was to the touch.

“Correct, my boy. You see, the Fates forged these bells with their own power. They managed to divine a single future where all of humanity is saved and rise back to equality with the rest of our races…” Closing his eyes for a moment, the gill-man took in some water from his specialized suit. “And this was created to alert anyone who had one of falling fate of humanity… If a single person intertwined with humanity’s fate was injured, the bell would sound to alert that. Because without that single person…”

“Then fate would choose another path, one where humanity goes completely extinct.” JD finished the antiquarian’s sentence and began examining the bell more. “Incredible… Forged by the hands of the Fates themselves.”

“Indeed, it is! We are most fortunate to find one in this expedition.”

“Well what do we do with it?” JD looked over to the gill-man, who was thinking and taking in water again. His eyes were closed and he was taking in deep breaths of oxygen from the water.

“Tell no one of this. If we were to tell anyone, we’d lose this item. We need to study it and see if we can learn from it.”

JD, hanging a lantern onto the wall, nodded in agreement to the old man’s instructions. The gears in the head of the ghoul had already begun turning. Suddenly, a thought popped into his head. It was the girl he had met in the hallway. Since he had seen her, he had wanted to take her out with him somewhere. For some reason, he was allured to her, and this place would make a great date spot.

* * *

“I liked it better when you didn’t sass me when I fed on your human blood, Ronnie.” Chandler said, feeding from Veronica’s neck in the bathroom. Since their encounter in the woods, things had become rather tense amongst the Heathers. In their wisdom, they simply decided to not talk about it ever again and to keep Veronica safe from any threats.

“Well you never used to be so rough, Heather, so why can’t I complain?” Veronica winced a little as Chandler bit down harder. It really did pain her to be fed on by Chandler nowadays. However, the blue shirted girl counted her lucky stars because McNamara’s feeding was much less painful and more sensual.

“Just shush, and let me finish!” Chandler finished up her lunch, before backing up and leaning up against the bathroom wall. “I gotta say, the blood tastes way better once you know you’re drinking a rare commodity. Good thing we got our own personal blood cow, right Heather?”

McNamara, in her silk yellow dress, rolled her eyes as she floated toward Veronica. The human felt much more at home with McNamara then she did with Chandler.

“She is an individual like you and I, Heather.” McNamara licked Veronica’s wounds, sending shivers down Veronica’s spine, before gently biting her. Duke, curled up on the floor, blushes heavily as she watched. “So, don’t you dare say such a thing about her, or I will pin you to a wall with the blades of the Morrison Clan.”

“Wow, since when did you become a total badass Heather?” Chandler snorted a bit, and looked down at Duke. The werewolf girl was still going through recovery after the incident in the woods. Just to calm her down, it required her sisters to all cuddle with her just to keep the nightmares out.

“I’ve always been one.” McNamara hummed to herself happily, sucking blood slowly from her girlfriend. “I’m like a secret badass or something, but I still love my dress.” She hugged herself and stuck her tongue out before returning to her feeding.

“Well just be sure not to be a badass when you’re biting me.” Veronica rolled her eyes a little bit, and she felt McNamara’s tongue pressing against her neck. She had to stifle a moan, but Chandler scowled regardless.

Chandler was not a fan of this weird relationship going on in her little group. These girls suddenly had each other, and Chandler felt left out. Knowing that Veronica was a human was also a source of worry for the vampire. Despite everything, for some reason she felt this odd drive to protect the human from any danger.

Maybe she needed to spend some more quality time with the human in order to see what Duke and McNamara saw in her. Of course, that would require removing her from the hips of the overprotective vampire and werewolf. With the way that they kept by her, she knew it would be hard.

Then, as she closed her eyes, a thought popped into Chandler’s head. Very simple, yet ruthlessly diabolical and something that the wonder twins hadn’t yet done. The best way to protect a human from the dangers of the world was to turn them. Since vampire and werewolf ancestors were humans imbued with curses, Veronica made for a perfect blank slate to be turned. A pure vampire who would never be hunted by humans.

The moon shone brightly above, as the late night was in its deep hours. Chandler moved within the confines of the darkness in order to get to Veronica’s house. She wanted to turn Veronica as soon as possible, to reduce the amount of time someone might use to kill her.

There wasn’t much of a fight though, considering it was a suburb and there weren’t marauding magicians and hunters guarding the house. It was all a simple cakewalk and Chandler loved the fact it would be so easy. As she began to creep upon the backside of the Sawyer household, she felt a presence.

“Stop here, Heather. Especially if you know what’s best for you.” A voice called out from behind Chandler. It was one that Chandler knew all too well.

“Why am I not surprised you were here Heather?” She turned around and, to no one’s surprise, saw McNamara standing in the moonlight with her signature dress.

“This is your final warning. I know you’re planning to turn Veronica, but you know that’s wrong. To turn someone without their consent is nothing more than brutal murder.”

“It’s what’s best for her, and you know that! Humans like her can’t survive in our world!”

“She can and she will! I’m here to protect her from it all! If you plan to steal away her humanity, then I’ll fight you to the very death to do so.” McNamara’s tone changed to sadness “Please, Heather, you’re my best friend you don’t need to do something so stupidly cruel!”

“You’re my best friend too, Heather. But I’m doing what I need to do as a superior being. I’m letting her live a better life. I’ll fight you but not to the death.” Chandler frowned as well, and she could feel McNamara’s frown in the darkness and silence.

McNamara didn’t seem to be playing around, as Chandler could feel the power emanating from her very being. The yellow dressed vampire bit her tongue and ripped off dress she wore, revealing gym shorts and a sports bra. To be quite honest, Chandler flushed at her friend’s physique. She wasn’t lying when she said that she was trained to fight. McNamara’s body was built very well, with defined feature being covered up by the darkness of the night.

Growling a bit, Chandler summoned up all the power she could from inside her. Despite wasting a good chunk of her energy, the previous time she fought, she found it easy to simply summon her monstrous claws. Like her last battle, her teeth sharpened to a more feral state and her eyes glowed a hellish red. All of this contrasted to the more human approach of fighting that McNamara held.

Within a moment, all hell broke loose in Sherwood. Even though she lacked wings, Chandler was as quick as ever, easily maneuvering toward McNamara. The huntress didn’t seem to back down though, dodging out of the way similar to a boxer. With the red dressed monster now behind her, McNamara grabbed her from the back and swung her to the ground.

Surprised, Chandler didn’t have the timing to land on her feet. As a result, she found herself becoming fast friends with the dirt outside of Veronica’s house. She shook her head and attempted to get up, only to receive a swift kick upwards, sending her into the air. McNamara landed quite a few jabs to the airborne vampire, before jumping up and performing an axe kick to drive her into the ground.

This time, the queen of Westerberg managed to recover rather quickly from the brutal assault. It was time for her to go on the offensive and teach her dear friend a lesson. She figured that since McNamara was not pulling punches, she wouldn’t either. As the other vampire took a quick breather, Chandler struck with the speed of an eagle.

Chandler’s sharpened claws made for a very dangerous weapon, forcing McNamara to use the outside of her arms to take the blows away from any of her torso. McNamara was not allowed to catch her breath, each time she attempted to recover a bit, Chandler caught up with an onslaught of bladed strikes.

McNamara’s arms burned in pain, with each strike of Chandler’s claw giving her an all new meaning to physical burden. But one thing she always knew to do was use anything to protect your vitals. Even if that included your own arms.

“You’re really putting up a fight, Heather, ready to give in?” Chandler asked, kicking McNamara on to the ground. The other blonde coughed a bit, feeling weakened from the lack of blood she now had. Vampires were unable to make their own blood, so losing the blood they fed on earlier in the day could spell death for them.

“No… I can’t let you turn Ronnie into one of us.” McNamara hobbled up to her feet, only for Chandler to smirk and slash her again, causing the blonde to hit the dirt. “Her fate… I have to protect her.”

“I’m doing the protecting here, Heather. She’s lucky I took her in, because any other human would be my next meal. Veronica Sawyer has to be turned for her own good, you should know that.” Chandler frowned, with a serious vibe erupting from her. “And I don’t like having to hurt my best friend like this, but you need to understand… where we stand. I’m more powerful than you, especially since you forsake your internal weaponry.”

Chandler turned around and began going toward Veronica’s house, and unexpectedly saw Veronica stumbling outside. She had a flash light in her hands, and her eyes looked like she had just woken up. The girl in pajamas, thinking that raccoons were skirmishing, walked to the garbage can.

“Nope no raccoons… The hell is making all this noise in the middle of the night?” Veronica mumbled to herself as she closed up the trash and began heading back to her house.

“Hello~~~”

“GAH! OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK HEATHER!?” Veronica screeched loudly and felt like she might have a heart attack. Chandler giggled and hugged Veronica from behind. “If you’re trying to lure me out to scare me, could you do it earlier? It’d have the same effect, you know?”

“Oh I’m not here to scare you, Veronica. Even though I have to admit that was pretty cure of you.” Chandler laughed a bit more, causing Veronica to flush a bit. “Anyways I came here for something else.”

“And what would that be, Heather? Not that I don’t mind visits from my friends, I just don’t usually want them when I’m sleeping.” Veronica rubbed her tired eyes, and Chandler just tightened her grip. Unknown to Veronica, Chandler’s fangs had extended and were beginning to secrete tainted vampire blood. Simply by mixing this with human blood, would forcibly transform a human into a vampire.

“Just trying to protect you from the evil world out here. Sure I’ll miss our feeding sessions, but this will save you for all time.” Chandler began to near Veronica’s neck, without the human actually noticing what was going on.

Suddenly, pain impacted on Chandler’s back. It felt like a thousand needles.

“One moment Veronica!” The vampire spun around to see McNamara, stumbling forward with a glowing hand.

“The black arts of one-thousand needles, Heather. Small yet extremely painful and efficient, isn’t it?” McNamara coughed a bit, and the glowing began to fade away from her hand.

“Hmm is that Heather too? Is Heather also here? Are we having like a secret thing or something?” Veronica was really too tired to care what she was saying, and only wanted to go to sleep. Chandler let out an audible growl and began running at McNamara. The human’s sleepy eyes opened up wide. “W-what?!”

The human had no idea what was happening, but it was like a sixth sense in the back of her head. Someone close to her was about to be hurt incredibly badly, and she had to do something about it. Her feet moved on their own.

Things seemed to slow down to an almost frame-by-frame pace as Chandler leaped at her best friend. She intended to severely harm McNamara, not kill her. The heir to the McNamara Manor needed to learn where she stood in the food chain.

McNamara raised up her arms and began to cast a black arts shield to protect herself. However, within a moment everything stopped. Veronica had jumped into Chandler’s way, and with the forward momentum she had there was no way to stop herself.

**_BONGGGG_ **

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	12. Door to the Abyss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Veronica gets a brain freeze.

Veronica could only feel the blood running down her arm as she stood in front of Chandler. The vampire’s mouth was agape as she looked forward at the human, who was managing to completely hold off Chandler’s hand.

“W-what the fuck?” Chandler said, looking down at her claws. They were completely being blocked by Veronica’s arm, which took nearly no damage. The scratched on the human’s arm were equivalent to being scratched by a cat.

“Yeah… I’m pretty much thinking the exact same thing…” Veronica nodded to Chandler, before both girls let their arms down. The human girl looked down and helped McNamara to her feet. The poor vampire looked exhausted, which was probably exactly how she felt as well. Chandler was looking pretty tired out too, and Veronica could only sigh. “Alright, I don’t want to hear why you two were fighting each other to the death right now.”

Chandler rolled her eyes a bit, while Veronica helped McNamara stand on her own two feet.

“T-thanks Ronnie, I think I can get home on my own though.” McNamara staggered a little bit on her own, but soon regained her balance. She let out a breath of relief that she was still able to walk.

“Tomorrow we’ll work this out like we’re civilized instead of jumping right into murder town, okay?” Veronica stared daggers into both girls’ eyes, and they could only nod. Chandler looked down a bit, before kicking the dirt hard. How could she let herself become that animalistic toward McNamara? She was really fucking stupid, wasn’t she? However, the red-shirted vampire said nothing and simply bounded off for her home.

“I’ll… tell you everything tomorrow Ronnie.” McNamara said, breathing hard and staggering a bit. Veronica just shushed her and kisser her cheek.

“Just make sure it’s not a dumb reason.” Veronica smiled, and McNamara flashed her own grin back before she hugged the human and left. Sighing heavily, Veronica looked down at her stinging arm. It hurt like a paper cut, but not too badly.

Soon enough, Veronica was back in her home and she was going to head upstairs. But her mother, staring at the fireplace, was sitting in the living room.

“… I heard something happening outside.” Veronica’s mother said, drinking from a cup of tea. She looked to Veronica, and nodded to her. “Come on over. We should talk.” The human nodded and walked over toward her mother and stood in front of her.

“Well… what is it?” Veronica asked, yawning a small bit. She just needed some sleep, not a lecture from her mother. It only took a few moments for things to start blowing up.

“Veronica calm down! You should know you’re human!”

“Yeah not like I didn’t already know that! My girlfriend’s mom had to tell me I was because she’s a werewolf!”

“Veronica!”

“Just tell me why! Who?! What?!”

“Just calm down!”

“But… Who am I? Please you have to tell me!” Veronica put her hand on her chest, yelling toward her mother. The Muse could only look away for a moment, before waltzing toward their fireplace.

“…”

“Why aren’t you saying anything?! I have a right to know who I am! I’ve never fought a day in my life but…” Veronica began trailing off once again. Her eyes were wandering all over the place in a panic. She looked at her arm, which had barely a scratch on it. “How did I avoid and block…”

“It was like a feeling, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah…” Veronica nodded her head, her eyes going to the floor. “Like it was something I could do, it was in my nature.” Veronica leaned against the wall a bit, while grasping her arm. She didn’t want to hear the answer, but she knew that to know was needed.

“Veronica, when… when you were just a baby you were left in our care.” Veronica’s mother sat her down on the couch next to her.

“Well duh, I know that! Someone probably abandoned me, right?!” Veronica snapped, before putting her hands on her mouth. She was a bit red and looked down, only for her mother to pull her into a hug. “I-I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, sweetheart. You were well… small and weak. At the time, your guardian left you with us.” Veronica’s mother began to pet her daughter’s head. “He had to leave you with us. You needed to be safe, and with where he was going… Well, it was impossible for him to bring you with him.”

“So, you were left in charge with me… Even though I’m a human.” Veronica looked down to her hands, and then proceeded to clench them hard. Her mother could only nod and hold her daughter tighter.

“Humans… You, have the instincts to fight and protect yourself.” A hand began running through Veronica’s hair and the teenager could only bury herself further into her mother’s warmth. Even if she wasn’t her biological mother, this was the woman who raised her. “But you are special, Veronica. Even among humans, you are the most special girl in the world.”

“W-what are you saying now, mom?” Veronica asked, chuckling a bit. She thought her mother was simply attempting to cheer her up.

“You’re a special girl, Veronica. No regular person could stop a vampire claw without any natural training. Not even your dad could do that.” Her mother laughed a bit, and simply allowed her daughter to lay her head on her shoulder.

“I just got lucky is all… That’s all there is to it.” Veronica sighed a little bit, and laid her feet up on the couch. She was ever so tired, but why wouldn’t she be? The fantastic vampire duo kept her up with their fighting, and now she was getting an impromptu lesson about herself.

“Your original guardian was one of the founding members of the HLF.” Veronica’s mother stated rather bluntly, turning her daughter’s head so she could look at her in the eyes.

“Of course, he was. Just my luck to be related to a terrorist group.” Veronica grumbled, moving her head from shoulder to her mother’s lap. The girl began to yawn, and her mother simply pet Veronica’s head again.

“There are some humans out in the woods. They don’t come out often, and they have avoided being detected by authorities.” Veronica’s mother said, her voice becoming rather soothing. “I don’t know all the details to be quite honest. Those two out there are members of the HLF.”

“Pfft, what? I thought the HLF was officially dead after that thing happened.” Veronica could feel her eyes getting heavier, and she let out another yawn.

“They aren’t, Veronica. But I want you to go to them… Not tomorrow, maybe not even this months. But they know your heritage… They know your true birth mother, the place where you came from. All I know is that you’re different from a regular human being, someone more special than even the most powerful vampire.” Her mother smiled, but didn’t receive a reply. She looked down to see Veronica had fallen asleep on her lap. Chuckling a little bit, her mother gently got up and tucked her daughter onto the couch to sleep. “Good night Veronica, dear.”

Veronica needed a total brain freeze. The girl woke up extra early, throwing on some comfortable clothing, before heading out. She was glad the convenience store was at least open twenty-four hours a day. She went to the Slurpee machine and got herself a cold one, which would fortunately not be cracked open with the boys.

She paid for it, and headed outside and simply sat on a park bench. Veronica was not in the mood for anything at the moment, between everything that happened last night and all the explaining that the Heathers would be having to do today.

Sometimes Veronica wondered why she even stuck around in Sherwood. She could just fuck off forever into the woods and live with those two other humans. Sure, it wouldn’t be like how her home was now, but at least she would be safe. What in the hell were those two up to last night? Trying to attack her? Or maybe they were trying to get a midnight snack? Veronica figured Mac probably came because of Chandler, who was probably up to something.

There was a silent breeze as Veronica sipped from her cold drink. All she wanted to do was get a major brain freeze and melt away. That’s all she really needed in life right now. And definitely not…

“Hey, hey!” A male voice popped up from around the bend, and she looked over to it. It was that boy she met in school a while ago. She thought his name was… What was it? MD? No, that wasn’t right at all. JD? That sounded better in her head.

“Heyyyyyyy there. JD, right?” Veronica said, looking to see that this guy also had a Slurpee. “Niceeeeee, nothing better than a cold thing at seven in the morning.”

JD came to a stop as he arrived with his drink. Now to him that was some sort of coincidence. Not only was he meeting the girl he was thinking about lately, but also, she was drinking the best damn frozen beverage in the world. He smirked a bit, and sat down on the bench next to her.

“Oh wow, you remember my name.” JD said in a mock sarcastic tone, before smiling a bit more. “And yep, only the best for someone who wants to blow their brain out ninety-percent of the time.” He took a drink from his Slurpee, before grunting in pain from the brain freeze.

“Pfft. Anyways, what brings Mr. Edge to the park at seven in the morning?” Veronica turned her head and drank from her cup a bit.

“Well I could ask why you’re here too, but hey I’m only Mr. Edge. What do I know?” He took a sip back and stared at her, while Veronica furrowed her brow a bit.

“I’m here because I damn well please, and I need to fuck off on my own for a bit before I deal with stuff.”

“Oh, I know the feeling of that. My dad is total prick.” JD took another drinking, forcibly giving himself another brain freeze. He always needed to do this before he talked any further about his dad. “Guy just fucking blows shit up for a living and that apparently makes him this all mighty figure who can do no wrong.’

“Ouch, that’s shitty to hear. What kinda shit has he done?” Veronica shrugged a bit, and continued to drink.

“Just the usual being a complete asshat. I have to do the cooking, the cleaning, the whole making sure our house doesn’t burn down. Yeah he does the work but fuck, he is just a fucking asshole.” JD kicked the ground hard and took another long sip, until his drink was gone. “Well that didn’t last long.”

“Well why not just get a bigger cup?” Veronica asked, eyeing at her own drink, which was almost gone.

“I could, but I gotta get going. Truth is, I do a little part-time job every now and then. Today’s a follow up on this thing my boss and I found.” JD got up from his seat and tried to sound as mysterious as possible.

“Yeah sure it’s mysterious. What’d you find?” Veronica finished off her drink and tossed it into the trashcan next to the bench. “Like a goose that lays golden eggs, or something?”

“As cool as that would be, no. It’s much better than infinite golden eggs. Might be one of the biggest finds of the century… Wanna come see?” JD asked, smirking a bit as his eyes went down. “It could be our first date.”

“First date, woah hold your horses their bucko.” Veronica got up and looked at JD in the eye. “I mean this is basically our first conversation, and I think you gotta know someone just a tiny bit more before you jump into dating. Do I wanna see this thing? Yes, I do. Do I wanna do it now at seven in the morning? Not really.” Veronica pulled out her phone. “What’s your number, we can schedule seeing it for a time that isn’t in the morning.”

JD smiled and pulled out his own phone.

“That sounds… just fine Veronica.”


	13. Age of Peace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Age of Peace begins. Can Veronica and her friends stop the invasion?

A loud yawn rang through the castle, bouncing up and down the hallways. The man was always tired around this time, often thinking he should fix his sleep schedule. But sleep was a small sacrifice to make for his science.

It was the home of Castle Frankenstein, a lone home that belonged to the infamous human doctor, Victor Frankenstein. He was infamous for not only his odd experiments, but also for advances in medicine for the monster world. Once again, the man was simply pacing about his foyer, wondering how to complete one of the issues he had run into.

His sole solace in the world were his daughters, Sharice and Maria. The two girls were upstairs, with the older of the two reading a story to Maria before bed. Sharice served as the doctor’s assistant, and he didn’t want to alarm her that he was stuck on their current project. A cure to natural biological death… How to create life and how to revive existing ones was one of Frankenstein’s biggest questions.

The front castle doors could be heard opening. Not a good sign, Frankenstein thought to himself. He had no appointments at this hour, so it could only mean an intruder. He turned around, only to see a ghoul, the worst of the worst in his opinion. Ghouls were nothing more than all the evil of humanity wrapped up into a near invulnerable creature. How pitiful it was that not more people knew how truly powerful these monsters were.

“Hello there, good doctor. I don’t think you’d mind me coming in and slaughtering your family, would you?” The ghoul left the door open, and Frankenstein could see ghouls gathering about outdoors.

“You can’t do this, so I would appreciate you leaving. Our family has the Count’s blessing! We are to be left alone, in return I produce medicine for this country.” The good doctor moved back a little. Despite being one of the most recognizable humans in recent history, he was still only that. Only human. Going one-on-one with a ghoul would not be smart.

“As if something like that matter, Dr. Frankenstein.” The ghoul tapped his hand on a shelf that sat near the wall. He began throwing the doctor’s books onto the floor.

“It does matter. Even among the monster races, illness runs rampant. Without my new medicines and vaccinations, this world could fall victim to anything.”

“Yet here we are, hundreds of years later and we’re all fine.” The ghoul laughed a little, put the attempt to put the doctor down were in vain.

“You seem to forget the Hunter’s Plague, which nearly wiped out 50% of the nation’s capital. If I had not intervened, this world would see less of its races who were not strong enough to fight against the disease.” Frankenstein furrowed his brow and spit his words out venomously. How dare this lowlife speak to him in such a way.

“I do not care. For you are a human, and humans are the plague.” The ghoul sneered at the human doctor, who was beginning to become more and more irritable the longer this idiocy continued. He took a single step away from the ghoul.

“The Count has us under his protection, and he will not forgive any infractions to kill me.” The doctor attempted to reason with the ghoul. Attempting to kill such a person would no less result in their execution.

“Did you not notice, good doctor? But the Count isn’t here, is he? In fact, it’s just you, me, and a pretty good bunch of ghouls outside waiting to sack your castle here.”

“I will give you one final warning… What may I have the displeasure of calling you?” The doctor moved back a little, toward one of the vents he had installed. It went directly up to the second floor of his home.

“RD, Rod Dean. Now I am going to explode your face now. And then your flesh will be tonight’s trophy.” The ghoul, smiling cruelly, raised up a pistol to Frankenstein’s face.

“Dear me, violence is ever so ghastly… However, important times call for important matters. Sharice!” Frankenstein clapped his hands together ever so loudly, before from the top landing a teenage girl landed. Her hair was a stark black, and her eyes were a bloody thirsty red.

“So, this would happen to be our intruder, father? Just a lowly little ghoul?” Sharice bent back, almost inhumanly, as she looked at her father. He simply gave her a nod, before pointing at RD.

“Now, show them why no one dares to step onto the land of Castle Frankenstein.” Frankenstein ran up the stairs, and hit a large switch. It started to send electric waves down toward the door. “I’ll retrieve your sister, you should have no problem as long as the gate stays up!”

“You’re just sending a little girl? Oh, how funny. I shall have a delightful time ripping her limb from limb.” RD smiled cruelly as he cracked his neck and approached the teen. Sharice just smiled, her toothy grin beginning to show.

The girl almost moved like an old cartoon from the 1920s, as she ran toward RD. In an almost amazing feat of strength, she punched him right into the electrical gate on the door. The ghoul yelled out in pain, as he felt the shocks running through his body. The animated young girl got faster, before leaping up into the air. She let loose a crazy laugh as she picked up the body of the ghoul and forced him through the electric gate. If there was a way to describe hellish pain, it would be having hundreds of thousands of volts running through every part of your body for a continuous few moments.

Almost not noticing the pain, Sharice easily slipped through the gate and cracked her neck a bit. With her pale, cold, hands she picked up RD and threw him toward the group of gathered ghouls. There was at least ten more of them before her. It wouldn’t be much of a sweat for the girl, and she began moving toward them.

“W-what the fuck kind of human are you? You should be dead from that kinda shock!” The ghoul was helped up by his gaggle of ghouls. The girl could only shrug in response, before letting out a cruel smile.

“You know… my papa makes a bunch of drugs! A lot of super cool ones!” Sharice stepped forward, grabbing one of the lit torches that sat out in front of the castle entrance. She pointed the fire toward them. “I like the one that makes me feel invincible! Wanna see my scars?! I got a whole lotta them from fighting off idiots who try to come and hurt us!”

The ghouls gulped a little, and one of them ran forward and attempted to uppercut the human. Sharice just wound her arm back, before throwing the torch directly into the ghoul’s chest. It screeched loudly, before erupting into flame.

“Whoops! I guess you forgot how flammable the oils in your body are!” Sharice laughed loudly, before sticking out her tongue at the group. This only server to infuriate the monsters, who couldn’t believe they were being talked down to by a human.

“You’re nothing but a cheating human!” RD began cracking his back, as he furrowed his brows at the human girl. “Using drugs to make yourself stronger, how can you even fight fairly?! That’s why we’re gonna kill you and your family!”

“Blah, blah, blah! Stop preaching to the choir, dumb fuck.” Sharice just kicked the body of the dead ghoul, before returning her attention to the living ones. “It’s called evolution! You think humans are really gonna just sit around and be hunted?!”

Her tone of voice seemed to become more and more erratic as she spoke. Eventually, she just growled and clapped her hands together.

“Now then boys… Let’s play!” Sharice picked the torch up off the ground, and smashed it against a rock. Without caution, sparks erupted from the rock causing the torch to be lit again. The girl didn’t take much time in charging the ghouls, who thought they could easily take such a young girl. Leaping off the ground, her arm flew back and the torch went flying forward. Again, it struck a ghoul, lighting him ablaze. In an attempt to put out the flames he grabbed one of his friends, subsequently causing him to combust. “Woah! I guess this is what they call the domino effect!”

Growling, one of the next ghouls ran forward. He managed to grab Sharice, and harshly tossed her up into the air. The height she reached would have meant death for anyone who wasn’t the daughter of a Frankenstein. As she fell, there was almost a comical effect as she used her downward force to kick the same ghoul incredibly hard. There was a cracking noise, before the blood spurt on to her leg. It only took a few more moments for the girl to tear through the remaining ghouls. She stomped on the brains of one of them.

“Ugh, totally gross. Fucking ghoul brain juice got all over my leg!” Sharice kicked her leg, but not much of the blood came off of her. She just squealed a bit, gagging almost mockingly toward the ghouls. Then let loose another cannon of boisterous laughs. “Wow you ghouls are so fucking weak!”

“H-how can this be possible?!” RD looked down at the corpses of his ghoul brothers. “You’re nothing more than a human! There’s no way you could kill this number of ghouls! You can’t be human!”

Sharice twirled around and pointed at the ghoul, before laughing even harder.

“Wow you’re such a loser! You can’t even think of humans possibly being stronger than you!” Sharice fell to the ground, her laughter getting louder and louder. RD gritted his teeth, and began to approach the girl. She was so caught up in laughing, there was no way she’d escape.

“Sharice, the time to go is now!” Her father could be seen from inside the castle. He was holding his youngest daughter, who was brown-haired and quite fair. She seemed much more peaceful and normal, as opposed to her older sister. Sharice’s eyes shot open and she jumped up into the air. Falling to the ground, she pointed a finger at RD.

“You leave now, and you won’t meet the same fates as your friends.” Sharice hissed, backing forward toward her home. RD was exasperated by this monster of a human, she was almost too much to believe. He growled loudly and began approaching the human. The girl just waved and leaped backwards into the castle.

Whatever luck she had, was now out. The electric gate jolted her heavily, causing alarm to her father. In a flash he disabled the gate, and the teenaged girl collapsed to the ground. RD simply stood there and laughed. His laugh was one of victory, and he began to nearly gag on his own laughter.

“You stay here, honey.” Frankenstein put the young girl on the ground, and ran to his other daughter. He checked for a pulse, and there was a light one. She had to get down to his operation theater so he could save his daughter. RD slowly approached, seemingly come to finish the job. Even if his daughter died, he had to shield her from the attack.

The ghoul smiled evilly as he struck downward. A single punch had enough force to kill a human on impact. But Frankenstein did not feel a thing, almost like he hadn’t been…

The man shook in horror, his eyes going wide as the laughter of the ghoul could be heard in the background. RD simply walked away from the castle, the grounds littered with ghoul corpses. And the body of Frankenstein’s five-year-old daughter.

-

Sharice and Belnades sat down in their small cottage, with the latter drinking a bit of tea. Her gas mask sat on the floor next to her feet. The magician was eating a piece of toast, and it was rather quiet. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of the animals outside. Sometimes the sound of nature was more invigorating in the morning than simple small talk.

The doctor looked to the other woman and sighed a little bit.

“I suppose I believed that the girl would come back. She seemed to fit the ones passed down in my notes.” Sharice laid her head down on the table, and Belnades simply patted her head.

“Well it’s guaranteed that she probably is the one. She was given to the Sawyer family, and that girl was indeed named Veronica Sawyer.” Belnades pecked the doctor on the head, causing the pale woman to flush a bit. Without much of a thought, Sharice shot up to full upright position.

“You’re right. I should have more confidence in myself.” Everything that the doctor said almost sounded excited, but her tone was so flat it was nearly comical. She took a bite of an apple that sat on their table, before returning to a more comfortable position.

“Right! And she’ll come here when she knows to. Not everyone just comes to the middle of the forest.” Belnades took a sip of her own coffee, and breathed a bit to keep the heat from burning the inside of her mouth.

“Still, depends on when she does come.” Sharice picked the files up off the floor and put them in front of her. She began taking another look at them. “It’s all going to happen soon, I know it.”

“How do you know that, love?” Belnades took a look at Sharice, who was beginning to bury her mind in the papers of Veronica Sawyer. “It could happen today or in a thousand years.”

“The Peace Maker is starting to get active again… You know what means right? It means that they’ll be coming soon. All of them, and then… and then…” Sharice started to hyperventilate the more she thought about it. She was not a total fan of this at all.

Belnades got up from her seat and went to hug her lover. She cooed the woman until she stopped hyperventilating. They remained in that close hug until they heard a knock on the door. The mage looked down to her doctor.

“I guess she’s here.” Her head turned to the door. “Come in!”

Veronica slowly opened the door, and walked inside the small cottage. It was the same as she saw it last time, but now it seemed less intimidating.

“Welcome… I suppose you have something to tell us, Miss Sawyer?” Sharice’s panic had vanished, and she sat up to a more professional posture. She got the papers in order, and looked again at Veronica, dressed in her regular clothing.

The girl gulped and walked closer to the two women. She sighed, before beginning to speak. Veronica needed them to hear about everything that had happened so far, from the fight between Chandler and McNamara to the talk she had with her mother.

“So… tell me, Miss Sawyer. Why exactly did you come to join us today?” Sharice simply nodded, and jotted a few new notes into the file she had. It looked like she would be the new writer behind Veronica Sawyer’s files. “I would very much love to learn what you’re thinking inside that head of yours.”

“I wanna know… Just who am I, and why was I able to fight like it was nothing?” Veronica sounded quiet, and she poked her fingers together in nervousness.

The two older women remained silent as well. They seemed to be thinking the exact same thing, and it was going to be the same answer for both of them.

“… Well it’s quite the story, but I’ll boil it down to its core. You, Veronica Sawyer, are a human.” Sharice began to say, putting her cup of tea down on the table. She stared into it, avoiding looking at Veronica.

“That I already know. But I thought humans were weak if they didn’t go through hellish training at an early age.”

“Well usually that’s true, humans aren’t physically the strongest without tons of training… But you’re different. The blood inside of you belongs to the Belmonts, the strongest vampire hunting clan in history.” The doctor looked down at the papers that she had on hand.

“What about then… my parents? My birth ones, what happened to them.” Veronica looked down to her lap, before shutting her eyes tight.

“… You were with the Van Helsing family for quite a while as a baby. Your mother, Clara Belmont died soon after you were born. She was still weak from giving birth and… well she was killed.” Sharice was looking through the file as she read, making sure to get all of her facts straight.

“That file… what is it?” Veronica’s eyes shifted downward to the papers that Sharice had in her hands. The doctor really wished she could have a smoke break.

“You may not remember because of your early age, but my father was your childhood doctor for a fleeting period, prior to… my father closing his practice.” Sharice almost sounded sad, and her partner could only place her hand on Sharice’s. “My father was good friends with Professor Van Helsing, he was your caretaker until The Hunt began.”

Veronica sat down with the two of them at the table, at the urging of Sharice. The blue shirted girl sat down, and ate the apple she was offered. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to get her going for today.

“So… what’s the hunt, exactly? Is it like what human hunters do?” Veronica took a bite out of the apple, which tasted fresh and good. It was much better than the ones at the market.

“No. It is what I used to refer to when Professor Van Helsing and my father… they had to leave this place. The Peace Maker first appeared during that time. It only seemed to want to hunt and kill whatever was in its path.” Sharice took a sip of her tea, which seemed to calm her nerves down.

“The Peace Maker… I feel like the song it sang that night… I remember it.” Veronica closed her eyes, and put her hands around the apple. She began humming the creepy song of the new moon. Sharice gave a quick nod, before returning to the file she had on hand.

“Correct. The Peace Maker was much more active when it first appeared. The terrible song was being sung the night you were left with your parents. For the Peace Maker, my father and Professor Van Helsing had to leave this place.” Sharice looked out the window at the trees, which blew in the wind. “You have the blood of the Belmont, a sacred family. The blood itself makes you much different, even without training.”

Veronica could only remain silent, as she listened to the words being spoken to her. She wondered how true it could possibly be. But it seemed to make sense in the back of her mind.  Belnades stood up and offered her hand to Veronica.

“But for what’s coming you need to be trained, Veronica. Sharice and I will teach you to fight. Because you need to be able to defend yourself, and the ones you love.” Belnades became quiet for a few moments, before continuing. “And one day you’ll be strong enough to wield it, and save humanity.”

Veronica coughed heavily, and nearly choked to death on the piece of apple in her mouth. Okay, this went from one to one-hundred real fast, she thought.

“Okay sorry, but I’m wielding what and saving what?!” Veronica stood up from her chair, and almost backed away from them.

“Veronica you are a Belmont! You’re the only one strong enough to save the world.” Belnades looked on at Veronica, who was simply shaking her head in a disapproving manner.

“I’m just here looking for my history, I’m not looking to save the world! I don’t even know what that entails.” Veronica put her hands up and started to back away. Sharice took a sip of her tea and looked to Veronica.

“It’s up to you what you do, but I can assure you that no one will survive the oncoming onslaught. Maybe a few, but only a Belmont can wield the Vampire Killer without bearing any increasing pain.” Sharice’s eyes shifted into an angrier expression. “I don’t hold disdain toward anyone… so all those children who may die will be placed on your shoulder. Only when you’re strong enough will **_she_** give you the Vampire Killer.”

Veronica shook a bit and gritted her teeth. She was unsure what to feel right now. Guilt ran through her body, but what did she expect? She came seeking answers, and it was being told to her. There was no one to blame other than herself for this conversation. The girl took a deep breath and looked at them. To choose a sudden fate that was presented to her, or to leave the house and never return?

_“You have returned… spawn of mine, what do you have?” A childlike voice could be heard in the darkness. Where they were, light never followed. The clicking noise of the Peace Maker could be heard, as it approached the voice._

_“Tlo tvaub I laeqo uokaqouob 'k 't... gausob 'r klaek ag aersor draab aerb drottob dv klo vuakokkaut ag r'slk. Tlo draebo 't klaek ag dorkob dokoau'ko, d'zob v'kl qaedv'uo draab... Wlaek tlaerr I ba v'kl 'k?” The Peace Maker grumbled a bit, offering forward the dazzling blade of McNamara._

_“Interesting… My spawn you did very well to retrieve such a weapon.” The childlike voice’s hand came out and pet the Peace Maker on the head. Like a child or a puppy, the Peace Maker seemed to react well and enjoy the attention it received._

_The owner of the voice made slow movements, before whispering a short spell under its breath. Suddenly, the caves lit with fire on torches. For the first time, great brightness graced the halls of this creature._

_The owner of the voice looked almost like a female child, but with the legs of someone older. Her face was decaying, but didn’t seem to further rot. Her left arm, the one that held the sword, seemed to be made of steel, yet moved organically. Her right arm was that of a… something. It was long and gangly, with a clawed hand on the end of it._

_All around her were more Peace Makers. Tons of them. This cave was almost like a nest, containing only sleeping creatures of death. The child tapped the sword against the ground, causing a reverb to sound about their home. The creatures began to wake up, before scuttling toward the child monster like a mother. They whimpered and nuzzled the leader’s leg._

_The girl smiled and pet her pretty little children._

_“There, there… Good children. I hope you’re read to feast soon.” She whispered in a hushed motherlike tone, as the Peace Makers seemed to yip in happiness. Walking forward, the creatures made way for their leader. With each step, she tapped the ground with McNamara’s sword. They entered the outside of the cave, and some of the Peace Makers shielded their eyes from the sun._

_“I will not rest, until all monsters are like us! They are our bane, and we must rise up to force peace among them.” The Alpha raised McNamara’s sword into the sky, causing the lesser Peace Makers to raise up their tentacle arms and yip in agreement. Despite their yipping and whimpering, they all seemed to follow in the same song as their leader._

_The young child began to smile and lead the monsters threw for the forest._

_“Lok't taeqo klo v'k'gir dartkout, uaed doov doov davo_

_Lok't taeqo klo v'k'gir dartkout, uo dav da doov dav da doov dav da_

_Lok't koaekl klo v'k'gir dartkout, vla laeqor'k ae krio_

_Tlaek't vlaek vo ba_

_Ig klaek't vlaek vo ba_

_Tlor oqouvkl'rs aedaik klod 't sa'rs ka do varbougir_

_Tlov raqo oqouvkl'rs aedaik voaeko_

_Eqouvkl'rs aedaik klod 't sa'rs ka do ta aer'qo_

_Tlov kairb roqou r'qo v'klaik voaeko_

_Tlov var'k goor rogk aik au irtiuo_

_Nak v'k'gir dartkout aervdauo_

_'Caeito_

_Eqouvkl'rs aedaik it 't sa'rs ka do kaar_

_Wlor... vo... uiro!!!”_

* * *

 

“What is it?”

“I can feel them coming. This sense of forebode… It’s so familiar.” Sharice wanted to grasp her head in pain, as she could feel every stomp of the monsters who slowly approached their world. It was a horrific pain, one that she would not wish upon anyone.

“So then, it’s true? The Peace Makers are on their way, then?” Belnades was brewing some tea, doing her best to not focus on the fact that their lives were most likely going to end soon. Right now, all she wanted was some fresh tea.

“I don’t like it, love… I hate it. It’s almost like I’m suffocating on clean air, and there’s no way to escape it.” Sharice gripped her head in irritation and began to breathe rather harshly, attempting to deal with the throbbing going on in her skull.

“Veronica is still learning, though. How long until they arrive, you think?” Belnades felt rather worried, indeed. Veronica was a quick learner in the arts of fighting, her instincts were most likely a big help in that, however she would still have a rather rough time fighting against the Peace Makers.

“Allow me to take it in for a moment.” The masked woman remained silent, and simply focused her energies toward the aura of the death that she could feel. “Forty-eight hours or less, so therefore we have two days until hell descends on that town.”

“Damn… And there’s nothing we can do, is there?” Belnades was beginning to feel that sense of dread. “Except…”

“Nothing more than what we always do.” Sharice got to her feet and took her gas mask in hand. Within the beak she lit an incense, before placing the mask back onto her face. So very sensitive to the auras around her, sometimes lighting such aromas helped to soothe her pain. “Where is Veronica, anyhow? I thought we were to train today?”

“She said she was going out with a friend, and that she would join us tonight.” Belnades took a sip of her tea and stared into their blazing fireplace. “I don’t like the sound of this at all, though… This may be our last battle, am I correct?”

“Perhaps… I do not wish it so, considering there are many things I would like to do. Alive.” The gas mask wearing woman approached and sat on Belnades’ lap. They took in the fire together, only the sounds and reverbs of the crackling fire could be heard.

* * *

Chandler groaned a bit, taking up the practice sword and balancing it in her hand. Duke sat on the floor, snoring a bit, asleep from a long sparring session with McNamara. Of course, now was the time for the queen of Westerberg to spar Heather McNamara.

“Still, I can’t fucking believe your buff as shit Heather.” Chandler walked forward and grabbed onto McNamara’s arm, which was incredibly muscular. The other blonde vampire felt like she would flush heavily any moment. Things were beginning to return to normal with her best friend, and she was happy for that.

“Hehehe, I know what you mean. Most people tend to freak out when they figure out I can bench press them.” McNamara laughed nervously as she pulled out her own practice sword. It was nothing more than a blade forged out of iron. The blade itself was rather dull, so striking someone would not cut them. It was more like hitting someone with a metal stick.

“It’s a good thing though, especially with those two humans saying we have to be in the best shape for those Peace things.” Chandler armed herself ready with the weapon. Despite being the top of the top, she was more used to using her claws and inherent bodily defenses as opposed to weaponry. However, after much convincing, she allowed McNamara to teach her how to use a blade.

“They are rather monstrous… Those Peace Makers took my sword away from me, and I intend to get it back!” McNamara wanted to yell it to the heavens. After all, that was her most prized possession, a sword that could slice through the shadows. With her dull sword in hand, she and Chandler began swordplay.

It didn’t take long for the seasoned swordfighter to easily disarm Chandler. It was all part of practice though, since Chandler was still a newbie to all of this. Taking the blade up again, they began to spar once more.

Chandler was surprised at how much work it took to become skilled like McNamara was. She could only imagine what their fight might have been like that night if her friend still had her regular sword. The very picture in her head made her shudder a little.

The two sat together and looked up at the moonlight. It was quite serene and beautiful. Chandler looked down a bit and sighed, knowing what she had to do.

“Heather… I’m sorry for the bullshit I put you through. You know, nearly killing you and shit.” Chandler hated admitting she was wrong, but this time around she really didn’t have a choice in this. She was incorrect, and only McNamara could grant her forgiveness. “It’s just that I felt this inherent need to protect Veronica, and by turning her… I thought I could.” McNamara was silent and simply stared at the moon, before turning to Chandler.

“You’re hotheaded, Heather. You mean well, but sometimes you just can’t help yourself. I get that.” McNamara, closing her eyes a little bit, was quiet and laid her head down onto Chandler’s shoulder. “It hurt when you lashed out so badly on me, but I understand you just thought that was best. And what matters now is… you’re apologizing.”

“I don’t know how to describe it, but I get these butterflies in my stomach when I think about Veronica. She’s the only one, besides you, to ever sass me back and not be afraid of the outcome.” Chandler poked her fingers together, before laying her head on top of McNamara’s. “And then she stopped me… I’ve never felt more for a girl like that! She stopped me without even a single day of training.”

McNamara giggled and ran her hands through Chandler’s hair. It was soft and smelled wonderfully. She felt the same thing for Chandler… that she felt for Veronica and Duke. This soft wonderful love. So, she smiled and got up to her feet, before offering her hand to Chandler.

“Care for a dance, Miss Chandler?” McNamara tried her best to sound as romantic as possible. She wasn’t sure if Chandler would be up for it considering how much time they spent sparring.

“… You know what? Fuck it, yeah I care for one.” Chandler took McNamara’s hand, and the other blonde held the queen close. And so that waltzed together, directly under the moonlight. McNamara could feel the pit deep in her stomach forming, just as they danced to the sound of the wind.

The gentle breeze of the night caressed McNamara’s skin, and she allowed her head to lay into Chandler’s chest. After all of the bullshit, and all of the fighting, she wanted her childhood best friend back. That adventurous vampire girl who was willing to beat up anyone who did anything to her. Of course, now the tables were turned, with McNamara being the stronger one.

“After this is all over, Heather… I think you should tell Veronica how you feel.” McNamara managed to say rather quietly, as they stepped to the rhythm of the night.

“Pfft, yeah fucking right. Like she would want to go out with me after I beat the shit out of her girlfriend and tried to turn her.” Chandler laughed, with a hint of sadness in her tone. McNamara just held the vampire closer.

“Even then… I’m sure she’d forgive you.” McNamara was quiet, and she had stopped dancing. Her head cocked up as she looked at the taller vampire, and their eyes met. Chandler gulped a little as she looked down at McNamara’s glowing pupils. “After all, despite everything you did… I forgave you.”

She leaned up a bit and pressed her lips against Chandler’s. Their common worries seemed to melt away, and Chandler couldn’t help but press back and hold McNamara closer to her. In that moment, she felt stronger than she had in quite some time. To hold feeling for bother McNamara and Veronica? Maybe humans and their polyamory… did have a point.

* * *

Both Veronica and JD made their way down the hole in the side of the rocks. She was mostly surprised that this was even a cave that existed, let alone have an old artifact.

The air in the cave was cold, and Veronica could feel the dampness all around her. She would be surprised if small lizards and insects were crawling all over the place. Of course, it wouldn’t bother her too much considering she was a human blood bag for Chandler and McNamara.

“This place was really hard to find considering this was an old cave we used to look into last year, but all we found were rocks.” JD listed off, as he lit the way with a flashlight.

“Yikes, how did you end up finding this place with the bell thing then?” Veronica turned her head to look at him. JD could only shrug in reaction a little bit.

“To be honest, it was completely by accident.” JD turned right onto a branch in the caverns. “One of the entrances was originally too small for either of us, but we decided to use some small charges to blow it up. Luckily, it didn’t cause a cave in, and we were able to enter.”

JD bent over a little as he entered through an entrance that looked artificial. Veronica assumed this was what led to the ancient bell. After a few more moments of walking they finally arrived in the lair of the bell. And it was quite beautiful. The light of the lightbulb shined magnificently, and it almost looked like the bell was sparkling. Veronica felt almost mesmerized by it.

“Watch this.” JD picked up a small rock and tossed it at the bell. However, there was no sound, and that intrigued Veronica. “The bell is magically blessed to only ring when humanity begins to go extinct! It’s amazing!”

JD got a little bit closer to Veronica, but she didn’t really seem to notice that. He then got in front of her and looked down.

“So imagine if a disease got into humanity that caused them all to die! This bell would ring heavily and well…” Her looked down at Veronica, who was more focused on the beauty of the bell. Fuck it. He leaned down and kissed Veronica. For a few moments he felt pure bliss, before he was cut off by a sharp slap to the face.

“THE FUCK?! No! I can’t... No! Get off me, JD!” Veronica pushed herself away from the ghoul and began to scrub her lips with her hand. She could feel skin being pulled off of her supple lips, but she didn’t really give a shit. What the fuck was JD doing?

“Veronica, why are you doing this?! We’re meant to be together, can’t you feel it?”

“Umm no I feel a sense of disgust coming off of you, especially since I don’t feel anything for you beyond friendship… And I guess even now that’s being tested.”

“Just touch the bell! You’ll understand what I mean, alright?” JD stepped away from Veronica and the bell. The human let out a heavy sigh, before approaching the large and ancient bell. She could only guess if she did this, then perhaps JD would leave her alone. Her lips felt violated.

JD simply stood there and watched, a cruel smile appearing over his face. She was going to be his, whether she liked it or not. This was going to be their first night together, and he was going to make sure Veronica enjoyed every moment of it.

Veronica slowly raised her hand out, and then touched it against the bell. It felt like… cold metal. That was it. This was what he dragged her all the way out for? To touch a cold metal bell? Wow, JD definitely knew how to make the girls swoon between forcing himself on them and touching bells.

Then it started to hit her like a bus, and it felt like her head was being overloaded with a mind that didn’t belong to her. But they did? She could see herself breaking into JD’s room… She could see herself stripping him naked and then going down on top of him. However, those weren’t her memories, were they? Maybe they were, maybe they weren’t.

“What is this thing, JD?” Veronica released her touch from the large bell, and it was almost like meeting with an old friend. Its chill was so nostalgic, something from a long time ago but she could not place her finger on it. It was scaring her more than anything else.

“This bell… connects us Veronica.” JD twirled Veronica and looked her in the eyes. Their gazes met, and Veronica felt drawn to the ghoul. He smiled, as if he had succeeded in a rather shady business dealing. "And our love will be God."

Veronica simply fell into his arms, and closed her eyes. JD laughed a little, having succeeded in his little plan.

“Our love is what will kill humanity, darling!” JD snapped his fingers, and Veronica pushed herself off of him.

“Ugh… No just no! Sorry JD, we gotta rethink this whole friendship if you wanna make it work.” Veronica stomped off, leaving JD alone. He just laughed to himself. With a snap of his fingers, Veronica would be under his spell once again. That bell had properties… to fill the heads of whoever touched it with the memories of another version of them.

And when the proper time came, Veronica would be his lovely little slave. A slave to his love.

* * *

Lost in the caverns… Definitely not a place Veronica wanted to be stuck. JD had made out with her against her will, and she was not in the mood to be anywhere near him. However, he was the one that knew the way out of the cave.

“Fucking hell, this is what I get for not paying attention.” Veronica sighed a little bit as she waltzed through pitch black darkness. What if she was trapped in there forever?

The very thought ate away at Veronica’s mind. She would never be able to hold her girls again… Never be fed on by McNamara or Chandler, or enjoy a hearty meal at the Duke den. And she’d never see her parents again.

Damn, damn, damn! What the fuck did she do to deserve this? Being sexually harassed against her will? Going out with two girls at once? Or what is simply because she was a human, and this is what humans got? All of it pained her deeply. She didn’t want to be lost. She wanted to go home and be warm, safe from JD and the other things out in the night.

Then, for a moment, she saw a light. Down the path in the cave, she could once again see. A green light, like a fairy, fluttered down one of the paths.

“Shit!” That was all Veronica was able to get out as she followed the light down each and every path. The cave became wetter and danker, but the light never stopped. Where was it leading her? And for what reason? None of it made any sense, but it was better than simply wading through the shadows.

Then the light stopped as she arrived in a chamber. The lights in the rocky chamber lit up, and Veronica was forced to shield her eyes once more from the light. Slowly, her eyes began to readjust to the green fire lit torches around her. Several skeletons littered the floor, and she would have screamed if she wasn’t so tired.

The skeletons were dressed in old fashion clothing, that was beginning to rot away. Gross, Veronica thought to herself as she approached a chest. The chest was made of wood and rather worn. On top was a worn coat of arms with a large B emblazoned on it.

“B… Belmont?” Veronica said to herself, her voice echoing in the chamber around her. Taking a deep breath, she reached forward and touched the rusty lock on the chest. A single finger caused the lock to simply break off and hit the ground. “Oh geez! How long has this thing been here?”

Quickly, she lifted the rotting chest’s top open and looked inside. There wasn’t much in there, to be quite honest. The first thing she pulled out was an old journal, wrapped in leather. She wondered who it belonged to, so she pocketed it. The second was an old rusty steel key. It seemed to be in better condition than the lock, as it did not break apart at her touch. The last thing was a sheathed sword.

Veronica took it into her hands and looked at it. Then she attempted to remove the blade from the sheathe, but it refused to budge. Almost like someone had glued a fake hand to it. However, she could tell there was something connected to the handle. Once again, she pulled harder to separate the two. But she could not.

That’s when the green light appeared in front of her again. It simply floated in front of Veronica, and the girl seemed hypnotized by it. Words gently floated into her ears, and her face went from neutral to worse.

“My… ultimate power? I must… save them all?” Veronica shook her head a bit. Without any clue why, she bolted away from the chest with the sword in hand. It was like a map of the caverns became imprinted in her brain as she easily navigated her way out.

_“WE ARE THE NEXT EVOLUTION OF HUMANITY! WE ARE THE PEACE MAKERS AND THIS IS OUR INVASION! WE WILL MAKE YOU LIKE US!”_

“So, this is it?” Chandler looked over to Belnades. The group could hear the words being broadcasted via magic. It was blearing all over the city, and they knew they could no longer hold out. The marching was coming closer, and Sharice could feel it. The good doctor readied her drugs, Belnades meditated in front of the first, Chandler and the other two Heathers stared out the window.

“Looks like it. We have to fight an army? Why the fuck did I sign up for this?” Duke wondered to herself, only for McNamara to hold her hand close.

“It’s the end, that’s why. We’re dead either way, and we need to keep these things from being seen in public.” McNamara kissed Duke’s head, causing the werewolf to sigh a little.

“I guess… People will probably think it’s just a prank.” Duke took the kiss in stride, and cuddled up to McNamara. Chandler just kept staring out the window. Belnades soon approached.

“They’re coming…” She was rather quiet and her hands shook a little. “You all know the drill… Drive them to Castle Frankenstein. There’s a better clearing there, and we should be able to corner them.”

“Righto boss.” Chandler sounded annoyed, having to take instructions from a human, but without Veronica around she just had to take it. “I just hope to Count that Veronica is alive and okay…”

“I’m sure she is, Heather.” Belnades put her hand on Chandler’s shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. “Now, let’s go.”

The group headed outside into the night, following Sharice’s lead. It was quiet, but the sound of distant singing and marching could be heard. The song was every bit as creepy as Chandler imagined it to be. She gulped deeply, her nerves being struck like guitar strings. Then they saw them. The Peace Makers had stopped, as they began to regroup.

“Dear fuck… There’s so many of them.” Chandler cursed heavily, looking at all the creatures. “Fuck!”

“Heather!” Belnades looked at her to scold the vampire, but her head cocked around. They had been heard. “Shit! Move out! NOW!” The Peace Makers, in tandem, all roared and began to run forward at the interlopers. There wasn’t any more time to prepare, for this was the real thing.

Chandler roared and glowed a deep black for a moment, before entering her semi-beast mode. Her wings began to stretch out and her sharpened teeth made for a horrifying sight. A cruel smile appeared over her face, before she took off toward the group in the forest.

“We need to push them back to the castle!” Belnades yelled, as she created a sword and shield out of ice. She charged forward and began to strike at the group of Peace Makers. This time it was all out war between their group and the Peace Makers.

Duke howled at the full moon, her eyes becoming more wolf like. She screeched out in pain as her clothes began to tear off of her body, and her bones began to contort. They no longer fit in her body, and they needed to be changed to fit that of the wolf. Her teeth grew sharper and more beastly, just as her body became overtaken by a coarse black fur. A loud howl filled the air, as the painful screams came to a stop.

“Damn it Heather, now I have to make another set for you!” Chandler slashed the face of several of the Peace Makers, sending their horrid and rotten blood everywhere. The blood splattered onto the wolf Duke, who didn’t even seem to notice. She simply growled and leaped at one of the Peace Makers.

These lower leveled peons seemed strong, and were nearly overwhelming in their strength. Not in physical power, but rather their numbers and regenerative abilities. The only way to cut them off from their life was to completely rip them limb from limb and leave nothing left.

Duke took the offensive almost immediately, leaping from Peace Maker to Peace Maker. The alpha werewolf took nothing from any of them, disemboweling them as quickly as she could. Her teeth were like sharp blades, easily cutting through the hardened armor like flesh of the grunts.

Chandler was having a bit of a harder time. Her vampire claws were not as sharp, and did not have the same pressure as Duke’s jaws. She had to carefully strike the Peace Makers in places that were generically weak. After all, they were badly sewn together and not all of them were as powerful as the bigger ones. Each slash made Chandler worry that her claws would break, but she tried her best not to dwell on it.

A larger Peace Maker, probably once a very tough vampire hunter, quickly came toward the vampire and screeched into her ears. The blonde covered up her head with her arms, only to receive a quick strike to the back. Chandler could not believe the overwhelming force of the monster, as it easily knocked her back to the ground with its tentacle. The sheer brutality of the group of creatures was horrifying, truly making her think about how powerful numbers actually were. But her mind began to dwell on them… How could these things once be called human?

Taking a quick breath, McNamara jumped up into the air with her new sword and drove it down through the entire body of the Peace Maker. It didn’t even get a moment to screech, as its brain was cut cleanly in half, along with the rest of the monster. Her head snapped to the side, spinning rather quickly, and driving her blade through the necks of several surrounding grunts. Their heads flew onto the ground, as their necks began spurting the foul-smelling blood.

Even such an attack, killing a suitable number of the army, was still inefficient. There were still more, growling and making guttural sounding noises. Their tentacles whipped at Duke from behind, only for Sharice to leap in the way and punching it back.

The doctor was hopped up on her drugs, but seemed to be in control of herself this time. Her body twitched inhumanly as she dashed at the whipping tentacles. Using pure strength, the human ripped one of the tentacles right off of the Peace Maker, causing a loud groan of pain. She didn’t say anything as she used the tentacle to whip the creature onto the ground, causing a loud thud to fill the forest around them.

Hopping like a frog, Sharice jumped onto the body of the downed monster. Under her mask, she gave a sinister smile. Raising her hands up, she plunged them down into the torso of the converted human. It began to twitch and flail, just as Sharice began to disembowel it with her hands. Laughing like she usually did when she was high, she began tearing out the modified internal organs and throwing them around. Chandler was displeased when she felt a liver smack against her already blood-smeared face.

“There’s no fucking end to them.” Chandler said, her back hitting up against McNamara’s. The duo became surrounded by a new group of Peace Makers, all ready to strike at them.

“Well… it’s safe to say we know what happened to that caravan of humans who were trying to cross the border…” McNamara, with all of her body numbing from the extensive usage of energy, mumbled, and tried to keep focus.

“Well, let’s do this Heather.” Chandler, letting her wings extend, smiled, and jumped into the air. In the moonlight, she resembled that of a fallen angel, a beautiful one. Her eyes glowed red and she flew higher and higher into the air, before taking another glance down. McNamara knew what do to and ran forward.

The tentacles began to come out and strike at McNamara, who used her sword to stun the oncoming biological whips. With a leap of her foot, McNamara began climbing up in the air. Chandler was in her sights, just as the flying blonde smiled once again and began to shoot down like a bullet.

McNamara gracefully leaped onto Chandler’s back, and the two descended at a break neck pace. Raising her sword into the air, McNamara began to gather magic into the blade, just as the hit the ground. Grinning, the sword wielding vampire drove the blade into the ground causing the area around them to explode. The Peace Makers in their small vicinity with vaporized completely.

Sharice jumped next to her wife, as several monstrously sized Peace Makers began to surround them. They were managing quite well. The trees had faded and Castle Frankenstein stood behind them. Growling, Sharice closed her eyes under her mask.

“We’ve eliminated most of the army. Only these tanks remain and… whomever their leader is.” Sharice grunted and cracked her neck. The high was beginning to wear off, and her joints were beginning to scream in immense pain. Duke, Chandler, and McNamara joined the two as they gathered in front of the castle.

“I can’t believe we managed to take down so many of them… This is incredible.” McNamara sighed a bit, and leaned on Chandler’s side.

“Well… we are a hella lot better than these human has-beens.” Chandler felt like vomiting up so much blood it wasn’t funny. That would just make her feel weaker, but the number of wounds all four of them had accumulated was horrifying. Belnades shook her head and raised up her hand, casting a spell to numb their pain a bit.

“That might be true, but… we’re still not done. These tanks are all like the ones we fought in the forest that one night.” Belnades looked on as these Peace Makers arrived. True to her word, they all resembled the ones that had attacked them in the woods that fateful night. “Their skin is going to be tougher to cut through. So, stay on your guard at all times!”

Their short break ended, and the new Peace Makers began their assault. As Belnades had said, each tentacle was much stronger than the grunts they had been dealing with. Duke howled once again and eyed one of them. It was the one that had sent her into her terror mode. However, in the light of the moon she felt no fear. All she felt was adrenaline, and that pushed her to move forward.

Growling and snarling, Duke jumped forward and began to quickly leap out of the way of all of the whips. Each strike that did hit her were painful, but this time her coarse fur protected her. The full moon was doing its job, and keeping her safe and strong. If she was in her human form she would have grinned ear-to-ear as she managed to take down the beast of a Peace Maker.

The creature began to roar and squeal, flailing to escape, but Duke pinned it down tightly. Howling to the moon, the werewolf began to dig her sharp claws into the Peace Maker’s torso. It was much like carving an immensely thick cut of meat, but her claws were doing the job. The skin used to feel like steel, but she was stronger this time. Her snout and face began to get covered in the blood of the monster, and slowly the creature began to stop moving.

She sniffed the corpse of the Peace Maker and got off of it. Duke felt her body yelling to slow down, but she couldn’t rest yet. The pain was building up inside her, and she needed to let it out on all of them. And so, she moved onto another tank. Chandler and McNamara were fighting to the best of their abilities but… McNamara’s sword was not sharp enough, and Chandler’s claws were beginning to weaken.

Belnades took this in and struck with her ice sword, only to back up from one of the powerful whips. A shriek from one of the Peace Makers made it abundantly clear that their power wasn’t enough. Taking a deep breath, she held tightly onto Sharice’s tired hand.

“We gotta let loose the nuke.” Belnades said simply and bluntly, causing Sharice to arch an undisclosed eyebrow.

“…  You’re right, aren’t you?” Sharice sounded sad, as if she knew how it would affect them.

“They’re too powerful… if we were at full strength we might stand a chance but we’ve been fighting for too long. We need too!” Belnades gripped tighter and began to clench her teeth together quite tightly.

“Yes…” Sharice tore her mask off and called on what inherent power she had. Both women began glowing a bright white, and Sharice began to grin widely. “NOW THEN LET ME SHOW YOU OUR LOVE!”

Taking a moment, Belnades began to call on what power she could. White light began to emit brightly from the couple, and the air seemed to cool. Belnades whipped her head toward Chandler.

“Grab the Heathers and fly as high as you can! NOW!” Chandler didn’t need a second thought, as she could feel a horrible power building up. She quickly took hold of Heather McNamara, before gliding forward and picking up the wolf, who began to squirm in her arms. The vampire could only roll her eyes at how much of a wolf Duke was being.

Then the couple exploded. The bright white light took in everything around them, a loud boom being heard. Chandler grimaced as she heard the sound of the castle beginning to collapse. Stones upon stones broke apart and crumbled to the ground. The magic blast caused even more stone to fly off into the distance.

The explosion soon dissipated, with the light returning to normal. Chandler crashed into the ground next to the weakened magic couple.

“What the fuck was that!? You just blew up an entire fucking castle and… fuck!”

“The most… powerful holy magic. It can only be used in dire times of need… It takes up a fuck load of energy.” Belnades wanted to fall to the ground, but she stood her ground as she looked forward. The corpses of Peace Makers sat in front of them, unmoving and cold. Duke went forward and sniffed the bodies. She tapped one with her paw, and it collapsed into dust. The doctor didn’t seem too interested, as she turned around at the stones.

Sharice looked back at the ruins of the castle. That holy magic was powerful enough to finish off the final Peace Makers, but… her childhood home only laid in ruin. Belnades held her hand tight, and kissed her.

“We can mourn the castle later. We have one last one to deal with… right?” Belnades looked at the mournful doctor, who nodded in response.

“Enough!” The Peace Maker Tanks had all been killed, and this new voice roared out from within the forest. Trees began to tumble to the ground, and the girls prepared their tired bodies for their final fight. Duke readied herself, and dashed forward to get the first strike.

Suddenly, a tentacle covered in toxic spines flew out of the trees. Duke didn’t have any time to respond as it struck her like a moving car. The spines lodged themselves into the werewolf’s body, and she flew forward into the air before crashing to the ground. The toxins seemed to inhibit Duke’s wolf form, as she screamed in pain as her body was forcibly transmogrified back into her regular form.

Her whimpers were the only thing that could be heard, as the smallest of the Peace Makers walked out of the forest.

“Now, now… You killed all my babies…” The Alpha bent down and poked one of the Peace Makers with McNamara’s blade.

“You… have my sword?” McNamara managed to squeak out, as her legs gave out. She could barely stand anymore. She extended too much magic in her fights, and now she was feeling the pain. She cuddled closed to Duke and kissed her head, as the werewolf whimpered in pain. Belnades growled a bit as she began to examine Duke.

“The toxins are going to kill her.” Sharice was rather blunt, as she approached the ruins of the castle. “You have to cast a healing spell…”  The Alpha looked forward, as if she recognized the voice and slowly moved past the injured monsters to join Sharice.

“… What happened here?”

“It got caught up in the battle.”

“Quite sad…”

Sharice collapsed to the ground, worn out from the drugs and the fighting. The Alpha looked down at Sharice for a moment before turning her head around to look at the others.

“I will kill all of you for the destruction you have caused. It is unforgiveable… what you’ve done to my children is too much.” The whip-like tentacles raised up into the air. Chandler, weakly, moved to protect the others. This had to be the end… and she never got to even tell Veronica how she felt. “AND IN YOUR DEATH THIS WORLD WILL BE CONVERTED INTO MY IDEALS! ONE OF PEACE, LOVE, AND HARMONY!”

The whip flew at Chandler, and she closed her eyes tight. But the whip never hit her. Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw a familiar head of frazzled hair in front of her. Veronica was tired and breathing heavily, but she held up the sheathed sword in front of her. Her panting was loud and she was getting tired of it all. She slowly turned her head toward Chandler, causing the vampire’s eyes to open wide.

Veronica’s eyes glowed an electrifying green, lighting up the area outside the collapsing castle. The Alpha growled loudly and began to approach Veronica. How dare this human go against her plans? The plan to return humanity to its glory by converting monsters into other Peace Makers?

“No more! No more death! No more pain! You hear me!?” Veronica was sick and tired of everything, from the Heathers to these damn Peace Makers. All she wanted was peace and quiet in her life, and she wasn’t able to have that. Instead she was forced to live this bullshit, and none of it was what she asked for.

“You dare speak back to me?! The Alpha Peace Maker!? Veronica Sawyer, you should be helping us! We have the same goal, to take back the world for humanity!’

“Not like this. Not through mass conversion into… mindless drones. That’s too cruel, even for them. We can’t sink down to that level or that just proves one thing.”

“And what would that be?!”

“That humans and their creations are the greatest monsters of all.” Veronica held out the sheathed sword she had taken from the caverns, and the Peace Maker screeched loudly in defiance.

“The moment you unsheathe that sword is the moment you give up whatever normal life you wanted for yourself!” The Alpha began slowly approaching, but Veronica refused to let her drive sway in this time of need. Both the future of humanity and monsters was on the line, and this moment would decide it.

“Then I’ll give it up… To save everyone I care about!” Veronica grabbed the blade’s handle and ripped the sword away from its sheathe, and held it up to the shine of the full moon. The blade was the same color as the sheathe. It shone a bright black and green, and the light of the shining moon began to empower it.

 “For everything you… and your race has done to my home…!”

 “NOW I’LL SEND YOU RIGHT TO HELL!” A single bolt of green lightning seemed to strike down from nowhere, using the sword as a conductor. Veronica’s hair seemed to twinge out more than it usually did. Her teeth sharpened and became more fanged. Her eyes began glowing even more, before letting out an ear-piercing roar.

 “V-Veronica?” Chandler coughed a little, and put her arm down, having used it to block the light out. The small human didn’t… look so human anymore. She looked downright godly or demonic, depending on how one would look at it. Veronica Sawyer no longer seemed to be human, now she seemed to be an entity driven solely by rage.

Cracking her neck, a little bit, Veronica began approaching the Alpha. Letting out a shriek, the Alpha made her way toward Veronica. Holding McNamara’s sword, the Alpha struck her blade against Veronica’s. Despite the origins of the sword, Veronica’s seemed to be just… too powerful. With a single swipe of the godlike blade, McNamara’s sword was cut cleanly in half.

McNamara nearly began to cry. Despite Chandler and Duke warning her to stay back, the blonde vampire picked up the two pieces of her sword.

“V-Veronica…!” McNamara was only able to spit that out as her hands trembled, and the piece of steel sat in her hands. “You promised…” The godlike girl looked down at McNamara, and for a moment let out a gentle smile.

“I am this world’s goddess, Heather.” Veronica raised up her hand, and the sword seemed to begin repairing itself. The Alpha got back to her feet, recovering from the strike. She let out a low grumbling, and approached once more. “There is nothing I cannot do.”

“H-how can she be doing this?”

“The sword she has… it’s the Blade of the Titans. The Van Helsing Clan sealed it away two centuries ago when they came to this country… or so I thought.” Belnades was doing her best to tend to Duke’s wounds. The werewolf let out a short painful yelp, as her many wounds continued to bleed. Chandler growled a little bit at the events.

“Yeah and that what? Turned her into a fucking god or something?!” Chandler yelled, and Duke let out another painful scream. Chandler quieted down and pet Duke on the head. She really way loyal… to take such harsh hits from the majority of the Peace Makers simply to let Chandler get to the castle. “How could this be happening?”

Veronica cracked her neck once more, before kicking the Alpha into the ruins of the castle she had destroyed. Every step caused the ground to electrify, letting out small statics of green colored electricity. The Alpha slovenly recovered once more, only to be struck down by Veronica’s fist.

The girls could only watch in horror as Veronica mercilessly beat the Alpha. Maybe it was because she had the appearance of a young girl that it made it harder to watch, as Veronica was solely driven by rage.

“How do you like this?” Veronica ripped off one of the tentacles attached to the Alpha’s back, causing her to hiss out in a shrieking pain. The godlike girl gave no reaction as she continued to pull the artificially attached limbs off the Alpha. With each tear was another painful scream, only to end once the Alpha had been stripped of all of her tentacles.

“So much for being the next evolution of humanity.” Veronica spit on the Alpha and raised up her weapon once more. “Have you any last words before I cast you into Hades?”

“You know humans will just…” The Alpha was panting and attempting to speak through the pain. She could barely do anything more than just attempt. “Die off anyways…”

Veronica didn’t respond. The alpha’s dismembered head rolled away from her body, and the godly Veronica stepped toward the others. She stared down at Duke, who was whimpering in pain. Her entire body was riddled with those toxic spikes from the Peace Makers. Belnades’ constant healing was the only thing keeping her body from going into shock.

“Heather… my dear love.” Veronica raised her sword in the air. “I will heal thee.” Duke felt her wounds slip away under Veronica’s graceful light. The pain no longer existed. However, Veronica proceeded to turn around and glide toward the ruins of the castle. “This world must be cleansed… of all evil.”

There were no replies. This girl was serious in what she was saying, and she definitely had the power to do so. She couldn’t let this happen. After all of this, she couldn’t let Veronica do this. With her legs buckling, Chandler got to her feet. Her breathing was heavy, and it was beginning to hurt to breathe. But that was alright, as long as she might be able to save Veronica from her own rage.

Chandler, slowly and cautiously, approached Veronica, who was simply staring at Chandler. The sword was still tight in her grip, and Chandler couldn’t deal with it anymore. This wasn’t Veronica, it was nothing more than Veronica’s rage and hatred incarnate.

There were no words. Nothing. Just silence as Chandler pulled Veronica into a deep kiss. The surprise was enough for the goddess, who dropped the sword onto the ground. There was a bright flash of white. And then nothing.

_“Wanna go on a date with me?”_

 


End file.
